November 29th, 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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Is this the real life?

Is this just fantasy?

No. It's Steve Does Comics, which is neither real nor fantasy but, rather, inhabits a hinterland located exactly midway between those arbitrary poles.

More importantly, this week in 1975, Queen smashed their way to Number One on the UK singles chart, thanks to Bohemian Rhapsody forcing You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate to settle for second place.

I can forgive Queen for many things but how can I ever forgive them for keeping a sexy thing off the Number One slot?

When it came to the album chart, it was neither Queen nor Hot Chocolate who ruled the roost. It was Perry Como with his 40 Greatest Hits, although I'm willing to bet Perry Como never had 40 hits in Britain.

Hooray! After a couple of weeks' absence, The Avengers reappears in my local newsagents, meaning I actually get to read this issue.

And how impressed I am by the artwork of John Buscema and Tom Palmer.

More importantly, how struck I am by Arkon's resemblance to Conan, even if REH's battler never got to throw lighting bolts around!

Speaking of the Cimmerian; when it comes to his adventures, my knowledge of his comings and going, this issue, are vague but I remain convinced that sorcery will be involved.

And an attractive woman.

When it comes to Dr Strange, I do believe the spooky surgeon has problems with Shuma-Gorath trying to invade our Earth, via the mind of the Ancient One.

Or via his body.

Or via both.

Or something.

I never had this issue but, from that cover, I'm convinced it features the tale in which the Red Skull brainwashes Cap into trying to kill America's top general!

Elsewhere, in The Inhumans, the soft-hearted gang release Maximus from captivity - only for him to instantly rob Black Bolt of his memory and to seize control of the Great Refuge!

The Sub-Mariner, meanwhile, manages to rescue Lady Dorma from the Faceless Ones - and gets his hands on Neptune's Trident! Now can he use it to defeat Warlord Krang?

On land, Nick Fury's still battling whatever evil plan Hydra have come up with now.

And Captain Marvel's up against some dire menace or other.

The lord of all vampires is on a quest to find a missing statuette.

And it would appear he's about to get wet.

A, presumably, drier Jack Russell's still having trouble with Atlas, the Hollywood star who's miffed about having become disfigured.

And I have no doubt the Living Mummy's up to something thrilling, as well.

Now there's trouble for Zira and Cornelius, when their human hosts discover that, back in their own time, they were in the habit of experimenting on humans!

But this issue's even more thrilling news is that we see the arrival of two brand new strips!

Granted, the first one's not that new, as the adventures of Ka-Zar featured in the book's very earliest issues. But, now, the lord of the Savage Land is back with tales we have not yet read. 

And, that means were about to encounter his first encounter with the Everglades, Man-Thing and the forces of AIM!

As for the other new feature, that's none other than Don McGregor's Panther's Rage, an epic drama worthy of the finest works of Shakespeare himself, as T'Challa returns to Wakanda to discover murder and rebellion are on the menu!

We even get a map of Wakanda thrown in. And Shakespeare never gave us a map of anywhere.

Speaking of Kevin Plunder, Spidey's still messing about in the Savage Land. But, at least now, he has the king of the jungle on his side, in his quest to prevent Kraven from taking over the world, with the aid of his humongous great Gog!

Elsewhere, Iron Man must deal with the return of the Unicorn.

On live television!

Having finally reached the end of Galactus' life story, Thor's sent back to Earth, by Odin, to deal with the threat of the Thermal-Man, a malevolent robot whose rampage across New York, the Warriors Three have signally failed to halt.

As that cover makes clear, the Hulk continues to encounter Captain Omen and his undersea kingdom - and finds himself trapped on the seabed, with nothing but an oxygen helmet for company!

Meanwhile, the man without fear is trying to prevent Starr Saxon's robot from killing the incarcerated Biggie Benson.

And, in a bid to prevent Galactus from re-hiring the Silver Surfer, Reed Richards sends the pewter powerhouse into the sub-atomic realm we all know so well.

Hold on. Can it be? An Old X-Men story that actually looks interesting?

Admittedly, I only think that because the cover depicts them up against villains you wouldn't normally expect them to come up against.

In fact, that's one of the most random collections of super-criminals I've ever seen.

Apparently, it's all down to the machinations of Count Nefaria who's assembling a gang of lackeys and assumes the X-Men will be willing to join it.

Elsewhere, the Porcupine's out to revenge himself upon Giant-Man, having previously been thwarted by him in his Ant-Man days.

And the bounder drags the Giant-Man fan club into it!

But what's this? Marvel UK may have run out of Cat stories to use but that's not going to stop it.

No, it doesn't decide to redraw Killraven adventures as Cat tales. Instead, we're presented with a reprint of a Marvel Team-Up yarn in which she and Spider-Man must defeat a female assassin called the Man-Killer.