February 14th, 1976 - 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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Just how many claims to fame does Midge Ure have?

Millions but, back in February 1976, he only had one.

And that was the song Forever and Ever which he performed as lead vocalist of Slik. However, it was enough of a claim to fame, as it was sitting proudly atop the UK singles chart.

When it came to LPs, those rankings were being dominated by no lesser offering than The Very Best of Slim Whitman by Slim Whitman.

Well, we all know that Slik's Forever and Ever is the greatest Bay City Rollers track that wasn't made by the Bay City Rollers but there were tracks I approved of even more on that week's UK singles chart. Among them were:

Mamma Mia - ABBA

Answer Me - Barbara Dickson

Evil Woman - Electric Light Orchestra

Midnight Rider - Paul Davidson

Itchycoo Park {1975} - the Small Faces

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

Dat - Pluto Shervington

Squeeze Box - the Who

I Love to Love - Tina Charles

and

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon.

Should one wish to investigate matters more thoroughly, that week's UK singles chart can be found here.

While the accompanying LP chart lurks within. 

 But can it be true?

The Vision?

About to be killed by common-or-garden hoods?

As he can make himself as hard as diamonds, I suspect not.

I'm not so sure about the Scarlet Witch's chances though.

This, of course, relates to the tale within, in which the Avengers are attempting to help Red Wolf rid his tribe's land of the pesky Cornelius Van Lunt and his thugs.

Before that, Conan and a friend must decide whether it's worth stealing a priceless gem from the grip of a skeleton, bearing in mind that skeletons absolutely always come to life if you try to steal from them.

And, finally, Iron Fist finds himself in a tale called Morning of the Mindstorm that may feature the first-ever team-up of John Byrne and Chris Claremont.

Drama piles upon drama, as the Hulk and Betty - now cured of being the Harpy - fall from the sky and land on an island inhabited by strange, gigantic monsters from space.

It's a very peculiar tale but one I've always had a soft spot for.

Matt Murdock continues to let the world think he's dead, for reasons I can't recall, and then has to put up with the return of Mr Fear.

As for the Fantastic Four, with Sue pregnant but unwell, the rest of the gang travel into the Negative Zone, in search of a treatment for her.

But is this only going to lead them to their first ever encounter with a certain nihilistic grasshopper?

I am impressed that Armando's main concern, on that cover, seems to be that there's a gang of apes waiting for him, rather than that he's about to hit solid concrete after falling from a high-rise building.

Needless, to say, this death is going to galvanise Caesar in his quest to right the wrongs of this world.

When it comes to Ka-Zar, he now has to contend with not just Gemini but also the Plunderer and Gog, in his bid to retrieve a stolen super-soldier serum that AIM are keen to get their hands on.

And, in Wakanda, the Panther manages to clear Monica Lynne of murder. And it's all done with kebabs!

As far as I'm aware, Dracula turns up at Quincy Harker's house, looking to polish him off for good.

But the old vampire-hunter has more than a few tricks up his sleeve...

Meanwhile, thanks to Dr Glitternight, Jack Russell must fight his own sister who's been turned into a wolf-demon, by the arrival of her 18th birthday, while Topaz and Taboo attempt to thwart the doctor himself.

I'm not sure what occurs in Man-Thing's strip but I do know it's a tale called The Demon-Plague.

In a yarn that seems to have been going on forever, our hero and Dr Strange seek to rescue Flash Thompson from those Vietnamese monks who wrongly blame him for the death of their leader.

Speaking of things that seem to have been going on forever, Iron Man's still battling the Gladiator.

The good news is the story's titled, A Duel Must End! From this, I'm assuming this is the issue in which Shellhead finally triumphs over the foe that Daredevil usually defeats in about five pages.

Elsewhere, while Odin sleeps, Loki and his allies attack Asgard. An act which leads to the villain declaring himself supreme ruler of the kingdom!

But none of that's the big news.

The big news is this is the last-ever issue of Spider-Man Comics Weekly!

Does this mean we've seen the last of our friendly neighbourhood wall-crawler?

We'll have to visit our nearest newsagents, next week, to find out.

Captain Marvel may have the cover but I do believe this issue's first thriller sees the X-Men having to tackle the copycat might of the Super-Adaptoid.

And that gives us the Mimic vs Super-Adaptoid fight we've all wanted!

Now we just need the Absorbing Man to join in.

Then, Spider-Man and Captain America have plenty on their plates when the Grey Gargoyle returns.

Next, Nick Fury and SHIELD set out To Free a Brain Slave!

From that cover, I'm going to guess we encounter the first part of the adventure in which Rick and Mar-Vell set off to recruit Bruce Banner's help in permanently freeing them from the Negative Zone.

And I do believe that, at last, Subby rescues Lady Dorma from Krang, returns to Atlantis and exiles the villain, yet again, from the environs of that fair kingdom.

And I'm sure he'll never return and never cause any more trouble.

And what's this?

Not only is Spider-Man Comics Weekly hitting the buffers. So is The Super-Heroes?

It's true. The comic that never quite managed to get its arse in gear has reached its very final issue.

And, as the cover features various people whose strips have sustained its fifty weeks of life, I think we can assume it knows it's the last issue.

But does it go out in style?

It goes out with the Man-Thing and Thing defeating the all-new Molecule Man.

The Black Knight must stop the revived threat of Modred.

And Giant-Man and the wondrous Wasp overcome the mighty Colossus.

Thus, are all loose ends tied up.