Forty years ago today - April 1986.

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

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Plunge with me into the past, using my patented Steve Does Comics Time-Plunger, guaranteed to never fail.

Now Loki's in trouble.

Thor's back in Asgard and out to get him for turning him into a frog.

But it's actually Volstagg who turns out to be the hero of the day by finding the late Surtur's sword and using its magic to break the spell!

Speaking of trouble, Blastaar is back.

And so is Annihilus!

I've read this story.

And I have absolutely no recollection of anything that happens in it.

But I do have a feeling Nightcrawler might be in a mood because his recent stint as an inter-dimensional swash-buckler is over.

Then again, I could be totally wrong.

It's chewed fingernails all round, as the gang of thugs Ernie Popchik shot at, in the subway, turns up at May's boarding house to claim its revenge.

I believe this is another of those periodic stories where Peter decides to give up being Spider-Man, only for circumstances to force him to change his mind.

Bruce Banner's put together a crack team of cracked scientists in a bid to destroy the now-mindless Hulk, while Doc Samson's still out to track down the beast and give him a good chinning.

And what's this? Betty agrees to marry Bruce?

Well, we all know how that always ends.

As we all remember, the Armadillo is a man who became a deformed monster, in order to save the life of his beloved.

But now it's all gone wrong because he's found that self-same beloved is cheating on him!

There's only one thing for it.

He's going to have to go on a rampage!

The battle with the Beyonder may be out of the way but it's only gone and torn a great big hole in some mountains, leaving a huge gash in the Earth's crust that'll cause the planet's destruction within hours.

There's only one man can save the day.

And that's the Molecule Man.

But will he be willing to do it?

Matt Murdock's still blundering around feeling sorry for himself, now that the Kingpin's ruined his life.

And then he gets stabbed by a mugger.

There's only one thing for it.

He's going to have to get help from Sister Maggie.

You know?

Sister Maggie?

The one who's been there, right from the very birth of Daredevil?

You know? Along with Stick and Elektra?

You know? As featured in Daredevil #1 and Sons of Origins of Marvel Comics?

Conan arrives in town to warn some king or other of impending doom but ends up climbing a tower, to prove his worth - and, therein, finds a rather important prisoner....

Just when we'd all forgotten about the Hobgoblin (well, I had, anyway), he's back.

And so is the Rose who I'd also forgotten about.

But it's a rather unpleasant tale with Flash hitting both his girlfriend Sha Shan and Ned Leeds, before the Hobgoblin takes the poor woman hostage.

I'm struggling to recall anything that happens in this one but I have the feeling MODOK's corpse is under the remote control of someone at AIM who's out to gain command of the organisation.