November 8th, 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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Who's up for a good gob?

I'm up for a good gob.

And that's a good thing because, this week in 1975, the world saw the first public performance by the Sex Pistols. A concert so epoch-making that 50% of all human beings who've ever lived have claimed to have been there.

That was all very vigorous, I have no doubt, but things were rather more spaced-out when it came to the UK singles chart because that week saw David Bowie's Space Oddity float to Number One, a mere six years after its first release.

When it came to the accompanying LP chart, things were rather more traditional with Jim Reeves' 40 Golden Greats retaining the top spot it had seized several weeks earlier. Clearly, only time would tell whether it would be Jim Reeves or the Sex Pistols who would dominate the UK music scene from that point on.

Space Oddity is, of course, a timeless classic and a masterclass in how to get away with having a Stylophone on your record but there were other tracks I also approved of on that week's Hit Parade. Among them were:

Love is the Drug - Roxy Music

SOS - ABBA

Hold Me Close - David Essex

No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley & the Wailers

Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale

You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocolate

and 

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen.

For any brave soul who wishes to investigate that week's British singles chart further, it can be found right here.

While its associated album chart resides within.

But, now, a tale of tragedy because, as explained last week, we've entered a time period in which most of Marvel UK's legendary mags vanished, with neither trace nor explanation, from the shelves of my local newsagent.

Needless to say, I'm still scarred by the experience.

I will, however, bravely soldier on like the indomitable hero that I am.

Hooray! Here's a comic that was available in my local newsagents. 

And I know that because I had it!

As we can plainly see, the Inhumans find themselves confronting the mendacious menace of the Mandarin!

And it's all because the villain is after some sort of sci-fi type eye-thing that's buried somewhere or other.

Elsewhere, Subby's still trying to find Neptune's trident, while Krang holds lady Dorma captive in preparation for marrying her!

Nick Fury has problems of his own, with Hydra deciding to launch a daring raid on SHIELD's barber shop.

I think Captain America may be having his first encounter with the Red Skull.

And Captain Marvel's in a bind. Yon-Rogg's ordered him to unleash a deadly virus in a town on Earth!

And then things get even worse for him when Quasimodo shows up!

I never had this one but I do believe Conan's in a jungle and paying his first visit to the lovely land of Zembabwei.

And that can only mean we're on course for a clash with a giant man-ape!

When it comes to the Avengers, the Black Panther's been captured by the Sons of the Serpent who've announced, to the whole world, that he's a threat to good, honest, clean-living Americans everywhere!

And it's starting to look like they might be right - as a man dressed as him is soon seen embarking on a crime spree across the city!

Meanwhile, Dr Strange is back and, I think, paying yet another visit to Stonehenge, in the latest instalment of his seemingly never-ending attempts to get one over on Shuma-Gorath.

It's another issue I've never read but I do believe Hannibal King is on the streets of London and on the lookout for a vampire who's been bumping people off.

And that, inevitably, leads him to a clash with Dracula himself.

Jack Russell, meanwhile, is about to have an encounter with a hideously deformed actor who calls himself Atlas and is out for revenge against those in Tinseltown who he thinks have wronged him.

And the Living Mummy is battling the evil Elementals on the streets of Cairo.

This is one of the comics my newsagent did have.

In it, Cornelius and Zira tell people called Dixon and Branton just what happened in the first two movies. and a man called Hasslein tries to explain time travel, to a TV audience.

That's followed by a three-page article about the much-loved POTA TV series.

And that's followed by Tim Conrad and Otis Adelbert Kline's short tale A Vision of Venus which I must admit to having no recollection of at all.

And the Man-Gods From Beyond the Stars encounter a sabre-tooth tiger that's no match for their force-fields but is more than a match for the local cavemen and women!

It's another one I never had but I can plainly tell that a brand new villain makes his debut.

One who bears a remarkable resemblance to a very old villain.

It's true. The Gremlin, son of the Gargoyle, turns up.

And it's all because the Hulk's search for Betty has led him to the frozen north.

Daredevil, meanwhile, is having a rematch with Starr Saxon's robot.

One which ends the same way as the first, with him spark-out unconscious.

And, in the Fantastic Four's strip, the Silver Surfer's busy mithering about the prospect of Galactus returning in a bid to recruit him, once more, as a herald.

It's another one I never had, but I am aware that, within its hallowed pages, Spider-Man and the Lizard set out to intercept Morbius, in an attempt to reduce Spider-Man's arms supply.

Someone had better alert Chic because Iron Man is still having trouble with the return of the Freak.

And it's not just the Silver Surfer who's feeling anxious about the whereabouts of Galactus, this week, because, exiled by Odin, Thor's been sent off in search of the planet-eater.

But, perhaps he should have waited a while. After all, back on Earth, a hostile land has created the robotic Thermal-Man and dispatched him to wreak havoc upon the cities of the United States!

That's all good and gripping but what I want to know is just what is The Parker Principle that the front cover refers to ?

And I didn't have this one either but I do believe a miracle has occurred which is that Giant-Man finally manages to defeat the Human Top!

Mostly by waiting until the villain gets tired of spinning around, and, then, hitting him. Once again, clumsy mediocrity has triumphed over genius.

Elsewhere, the Cat is fighting Captain Kraken in a tale drawn by Patty Cockrum.

And the X-Men are having trouble with Lucifer who wants to conquer mankind, on behalf of his alien masters!