November 15th, 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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On November 15th, 1975, BBC One's Model World taught us how to modify toy soldiers for use in other scenarios.

I suspect it may have been Bob Symes who was teaching us.

This may not be the most riveting piece of information you've ever heard but, apart from the formation of the G6, it's the most interesting thing I can find that happened on that day.

"But wait!" I hear you cry. "What about the pop charts? What was happening atop their twin luscious peaks?"

I can sensationally reveal that David Bowie's Space Oddity was still over the moon on the UK singles chart, while we had a new Number One on the LP rankings, thanks to Max Boyce's We All Had Doctors' Papers.

And, speaking of models, this is the tale in which Gwen beats Mary Jane at her own game and becomes a model as well when half our regular cast decamp to the Savage Land and find themselves re-enacting King Kong, as Spidey goes up against the gargantuan grip of Gog.

Following that, Iron Man triumphs over the Freak by gassing him in the back of a van.

And Thor bumps into Galactus who insists on telling the thunder god - and us - his origin.

In this week's thrilling edition, the Sub-Mariner's still wasting his time, looking for Neptune's Trident, when a bunch of eels tell him Warlord Krang's handed Lady Dorma over to a bunch of creatures called the Faceless Ones!

Now our hero's going to have to abandon his search for the trident, in order to save his beloved!

Having staged a daring attack on SHIELD's barber shop, last week; this week, Hydra launches a daring attack on an empty warehouse - only for it to turn out to be a trap. And, now, their crack Futile Attack Squadron is a prisoner of SHIELD!

Far away from that, the Inhumans are fighting the Mandarin but Black Bolt thwarts the sinister son of Seres, thanks to his power of hypnosis.

Following that, Captain America encounters the origin of the Red Skull.

And Captain Marvel discovers that the late Walter Lawson - whose place he's secretly taken - was building a great big death-bot in his house. Which seems like a normal thing for a man to do.

Hooray! After a couple of weeks of me being denied the pleasure of owning the latest Avengers issues, the book mysteriously returns to my local newsagents, for one week, which means I've actually read this one.

And I believe it was the first time I ever saw the combination of John Buscema and Tom Palmer on an art job. Needless to say, I was most impressed.

But, first, Conan.

And I have strong memories of his story too. One which features him blundering around in Zembabwei, rescuing a hapless blonde and fighting yet another of those man-apes that are always described as being rare but which seem to lurk behind every Hyborian tree.

The aforementioned Avengers, meanwhile, are having trouble with an impostor running around, masquerading as the Black Panther, in order to commit a crime spree, while the real one is being held hostage by the Sons of the Serpent!

I suspect it's in this issue that we get the shock revelation - on nationwide TV - that the two leaders of the notoriously racist gang are, in fact, a white man and a black man!

Dr Strange, meanwhile, is being bothered by the Demons of Shuma-Gorath!

Thunderbolt Ross is chasing the Hulk around the icy wastes of Canada when the pair of them are abducted by the Gremlin who conducts tests on the brute's abilities, in order to better improve his lackeys' Super-Trooper suits.

Back in New York, Starr Saxon's robot is still engaging in fisticuffs with Daredevil, before Saxon accidentally sends it off to kill his employer Biggie Benson.

And the Silver Surfer's still facing the prospect of having to return to the role of being Galactus' herald.

Good God, what's going on on that cover? Is everyone fighting everyone, this week?

We'll soon find out.

As far as I can make out, the good news is that Drac's not involved. He's too busy fighting Hannibal King.

And the Werewolf by Night's not fighting the Living Mummy, at all. He's too busy fighting an embittered ex-Hollywood actor called Atlas.

And the Living Mummy's still fighting the Elementals in the streets of Cairo.

I can, therefore, decree that cover to be pure clickbait and not at all an accurate representation of what transpires within.

It's helpful of the authorities to put pictures of Zira and Cornelius on that Wanted poster, so we won't mistake them for any other talking apes we might encounter.

Inside the comic, the two chimps are having a whale of a time getting to know the world of humans.

But, then, naughty Dr Hasslein gets Zira drunk and she lets slip just what the future has in store for those humans.

And, of course, the United States isn't going to take that sort of thing lying down.

That's followed by a four-page feature on Roddy McDowall

And we get the latest instalment of Man-Gods From Beyond the Stars.

But there's a bonus because we also encounter Barry Smith's first stab at drawing barbarians for Marvel when fictional antediluvian swordsman Starr the Slayer sets out to kill his creator before his creator can kill him!

I assume Starr the Slayer isn't related to Starr Saxon even though they both feature, this week, in stories drawn by Barry Smith.

Interesting to see The Super-Heroes, using the style of split cover The Mighty World of Marvel will later adopt in its merger-happy era.

You have to hand it to The Super-Heroes. It doesn't even have to merge with anything for it to act like a merged comic. That's how ahead of its time it is.

In this thrilling issue, despite what the cover claims, Giant-Man must find a way to thwart the Black Knight, a man who's decided to put on a suit of armour and create a winged horse after seeing a statue of a man on a horse.

Then, the Cat must find a way to stop the charge of the Man-Bull.

And the X-Men are still being pestered by both Dominus and Lucifer.