Fifty years ago today - December 1975.

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

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Did you know that, in December 1975, George and Kathleen Lutz moved into a new house in Amityville, New York?

I think you can guess what happened next.

But what happened in the Marvel comics which bore that month as their cover date?

George and Kathleen need to take a leaf out of Conan's book. He'd just hack the house to pieces.

But, right now, he has other matters on his mind, as he begins an adaptation of Robert E Howard's Queen of the Black Coast. The fateful drama in which he first encounters Bêlit!

Hooray! Death-Stalker's always been my favourite Daredevil foe!

Admittedly, that's not much of an achievement, as, until that villain showed up, Hornhead's arch-enemy had been the Stilt-Man.

I must confess to not knowing what's happening on the cover but I do know that, inside, the bounder tries to zap our hero, with a gun made from stolen mirrors!

As for, "The most startling character in the annals of Marveldom!" I'm going to assume he's the Sky-Walker. A man of whom I know nothing.

The Crusader's still causing trouble.

But what dainty little blasts he's firing from his hands there.

I seem to remember the Locust being a less than classic villain.

I also seem to remember not being able to remember much of what happens in this one; other than there being a traffic jam involved and that this is probably the issue in which Sal Buscema replaces Herb Trimpe as regular penciller on the book.

I'm assuming, from the setting, that that character who looks like the Sub-Mariner isn't really the Sub-Mariner?

Whoever he is, I've not read this one and know nothing of it, beyond Firebrand being involved.

It's the cover you thought you'd never see! Spider-Man threatening a rat!

More importantly, this issue sees the return of the Shocker who plunges an entire New York city block into darkness for reasons I don't recall.

Regardless, it means Peter Parker must abandon a party thrown by J Jonah Jameson - and leave MJ fuming.

And it's not just the Shocker who's about to return to Marvelville - because the arrival of the Servitor can, surely, mean only one thing.

That Zarrko: The Tomorrow Man can't be far behind!

I first read this tale in the 1977 Titans Annual. A review of which you can read by clicking on this very link.

As we can probably guess from the cover, that psinister psychiatrist Dr Faustus is back - and has hijacked a passenger jet, with the aid of his men and a woman called Karla!

It was in this story that I first discovered the American emergency number is 911 and not the 999 we use in our very own land of mists and crumpets.

This looks suspiciously like the issue before the one in which the Avengers must fight Kang in the American Wild West, thanks to a quest to find Hawkeye.

The concluding part of that tale was, of course, reprinted in Marvel UK's 1977 Avengers Annual, with great chunks excised to make it fit the page count.

And I do believe It may have been the first time I ever encountered Moondragon.

This one didn't appear in any 1977 Marvel UK annuals, as far as I'm aware.

That's not to say it didn't deserve to.

It is, of course, a tale which manages the unique feat of owing a debt to both Night of the Demon and the Star Trek episode in which Captain Kirk emerges from an obelisk, starts calling himself Kirok and takes to living with Native Americans from outer space.

Anyway, it all kicks off when Cyclops, upset over the death of Thunderbird, destroys an ancient monument and inadvertently unleashes a demonic - and unkillable - entity from another dimension!

That's Marvel's big hitters dealt with.

But we must never forget the presence of another company. One that rivals Marvel itself in size.

And, therefore, I propose we take a look at what a random selection of titles from that company - and bearing the same cover date - resemble.

Comicdom's latest barbarian is back, and I've included him purely for the strangeness of Ernie Chan's cover.

I know little of the contents of its insides but am aware that, when Claw and someone called Ghilkyn save someone called Cybilyth from someone who's doing sacrificing, the local sorcerer opens a rift to another dimension. One which allows a bunch of hostile giants to show up!

I'm assuming that was his intention.

If not, that was quite careless of him.

The always idiosyncratic 1st Issue Special gives us what would appear to be Dr Fate fighting the Sphinx which has now learnt to fly!

Beyond that, I can say nothing of the events that unfold within the pages of this comic. Other than that they would appear to take place in Boston which is a city I was not aware existed in the DC universe.

What's this?

The Joker?

About to fling Diana Prince off a bridge?

To her doom?

Oh. Apparently, not. It would appear she's Dinah Lance, real-world identity of the Black Canary.

And it would also appear the fiend has kidnapped her!

And that only her boyfriend the Green Arrow can save her!

Jack Kirby's departing for Marvel - and it's the last issue of Justice Inc.

But do both creator and creation go out with style?

Sadly, I cannot say, having never read this issue.

However, I'm sure there'll be plenty of action for the Avenger to fight his way through.

Jack Kirby's departing for Marvel - and it's the last issue of Omac but do both creator and creation go out with style?

I don't have a clue.

But I can say that, according to the GCD, in his headquarters, Skuba's "children" show Buddy his Chamber of Monsters.

I've no idea what any of that means.

To be honest, my knowledge of Dick Tracy comes entirely from having once watched the Warren Beatty/Madonna movie.

And I don't remember anything about it.

Fortunately, DC hands us an entire Limited Collectors' Edition to bring us up to speed.

The core of the book is a 59-page epic, reprinted from the mid-1940s, in which our hero encounters characters with such names as Flattop, Tess Truehart and Vitamin Flintheart.

We're also treated to a two-page Rogue's Galley and many a one-page featurette about the great man himself.

But what's this? Is there no 3D diorama?

In a DC Limited Collectors' Edition?

Who are these publishers? And what have they done with DC?