Tuesday, 12 May 2026

The Marvel Lucky Bag - May 1986.

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

What places of magic they be.

Why, within them, you can experience a veritable smorgasbord of experiences you couldn't possibly get at home.

And the non-domestic smorgasbord presented to us in May 1986 included the release of such morsels as Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling, No Retreat, No Surrender, Short Circuit, Top Gun, Crawlspace, Poltergeist II, Saving Grace and Blue City.

I must confess I've not heard of most of those films and have only seen Short Circuit and Poltergeist II. I shall, therefore, feel compelled to vote for Poltergeist II as my Movie of the Month.

I suspect others may disagree with me.

Marvel Graphic Novel #21 - Marada the She-Wolf

A brand new graphic novel enters our life when Marada the She-Wolf experiences the Chris Claremont and John Bolton created thriller in which something or other happens.

But wait.

What's this?

This is made up of stories that originally appeared in 1982's Epic Illustrated?

But, surely, that makes this a trade paperback? Not a graphic novel?

Regardless, the Grand Comics Database informs me the Marada series was conceived as a bunch of Red Sonja tales but had to be modified when Marvel lost the license to use the character.

Masters of the Universe #1, Marvel Comics

However, no one's going to care about that.

We're all too busy reading the sensational new comic that's hit our local spinner racks, as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe get their very own comic and Prince Adam demonstrates he does indeed have the power!

However, I know nothing of this opening issue, other than that its contents are titled The Coming of Hordak!

I shall, therefore, assume it deals with Hordak, and his arrival.

Shockingly, as far as I can ascertain, this book will only last for thirteen issues.

The Thing #35, Ms Marvel

And He-Man's not the only one making a Marvel debut, this month.

So is the all-new Ms Marvel when Sharon Ventura's transformed into the second incarnation of the heroine.

Alpha Flight Annual #1

Alpha Flight have had their own monthly mag and, now, they bag their first annual, only to find their mansion possessed by the spirit of someone called Gilded Lily who, with the help of Diablo, is after a physical body to inhabit.

And that can only mean one thing.

That she kidnaps Aurora, for exactly that purpose!

Micronauts #20

But what drama greets us now?

After 20 issues, the latest Micronauts comic hits its final issue!

Does this mean we must abandon all hope of ever getting the Micronauts/He-Man crossover for which we were all so desperately longing?

That would appear to be the case.

As for what happens in this one, I have few clues, other than that it's called Worldhome! and delivered by the minds and fingers of Peter Gillis and Kelley Jones.

The New Mutants #39

Arthur Adams and Bill Sienkiewicz produce a striking cover when Wolfsbane, Cypher, Magik, Karma, Cannonball and Magma join the Hellions.

Meanwhile, Magneto learns about Empath's attack on Tom and Sharon and decides to bring the team home.

A decision that causes Emma Frost to call the police on him.

Which seems a strange decision. Are the police really likely to be able to stop Magneto doing anything?

Also, she's never really struck me as being a, "Calling the police," kind of woman.

Balder the Brave #4

I know little of Balder's latest adventure, other than that he rescues Karnilla - and discovers he's been chosen as ruler of Asgard, as seen in Thor's comic, this month.

And, as our hero gets killed in that book, it's perhaps no shock that this proves to be the last appearance of his own mini-series.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

In 'No Retreat, No Surrender!' the action sequences seemed absolutely brilliant, to me, aged 15. Re-watching it, as an adult, the film's incredibly low budget, is very much apparent - even the dubbing/voices seem odd. The action scenes, nevertheless, still stand up, pretty well. I watched 'Top Gun', too ( being an aviation geek, it was a terrific film - but I remembering it coming out later than 'NRNS!' ) Short Circuit's been on tv, many times.

Phillip

Matthew McKinnon said...

We didn’t get Poltergeist II in the UK until October. I remember our 2-screener showing Aliens and P2 at the same time then.

I like it. It’s not a good film, really, but there are good things in it: the cast are still charming, the VFX are generally good and there’s another great Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack.

It also has two key scenes that are so powerful and hideous that they’re textbook ‘how to do this right’ examples for me. When the evil preacher tries to talk his way into the house, and the HR Giger-designed vomit creature. Ugh.

I’ve never seen Top Gun! I tried a couple of times as a teen but last about 15 minutes. I’d really like to see Jo-Jo Dancer though - it got a restoration recently.

Didn’t have any of those comics except possibly New Mutants. Might have bailed by that point though.

Has anyone seen the trailer for the new He-Man movie? You don’t need to. Just imagine in your head what a thundering, cheap-CGI-looking movie would look like and you’ve nailed it.

Anonymous said...

*lasted