Sunday, 14 June 2026

The Marvel Lucky Bag - June 1986.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon
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I often profess ignorance of most of the movies I mention in my posts but, June 1986 was replete with films of which even I've heard.

It was, when all's said and done, a month that unfurled such cinematic delights as Invaders from Mars, My Little Pony, SpaceCamp, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Belizaire the Cajun, The Manhattan Project, Mona Lisa, Legal Eagles, The Karate Kid Part II, Labyrinth and Ruthless People.

The problem is I don't remember liking any of them. Therefore, it's a struggle to nominate my Steve Does Comics Film of the Month but, if pressed, I shall go for Ruthless People.

The Vision and the Scarlet Witch #9

The Enchantress turns up in the book dedicated to Marvel's least likely married couple but, not having read this one, I cannot say what she's up to.

I'm going to assume, though, that she will try and make the Vision do her bidding, as that is her usual modus operandi when dealing with men.

But will her powers work on an android?

And, also, will the Executioner show up in his usual huff?

Captain America Annual #8, Wolverine

The star-spangled superstar lands himself his eighth annual.

But can he manage to survive it, seeing as he must endure an encounter with Wolverine?

It would appear that someone called the Overrider gains control of a robot created, by the American government, to eliminate super-soldiers.

Given their back-stories, this does sound like the sort of thing that both Captain America and Wolverine would take an interest in.

The New Mutants Annual #2

And the New Mutants too have an annual of their very own.

In this one, a legend is born when Mojo kidnaps Betsy Braddock. A circumstance that leads to her gaining new eyes and the name Psylocke!

In other news, the New Mutants meet Captain Britain, while someone called Cypher merges with Warlock.

That's the robot Warlock. Not Adam Warlock.

The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #6

Not to be outdone by Cap and the New Mutants, the one and only Spider-Man gets another annual and I have no idea what happens in it, other than that it's forty pages long, is called Ace II and is the brainchild of Peter David and Mark Beachum.

Dakota North #1

But forget about annuals. Who needs those when a brand new comic hits our lives and features a brand new heroine in the form of Dakota North?

With a name and a front cover like that, I was assuming she'd be a Howard Chaykin creation but it seems she's brought to us - in a tale called Design for Dying - by Martha Thomases and Tony Salmons

All I know beyond that is she is, allegedly, based on Emma Peel and that her comic will survive for just five issues.

Moonshadow #8

Moonshadow hits its eighth issue, with a cover by Jon J Muth and interiors by Jon J Muth.

Not to mention it possessing a J M DeMatteis script titled Candles.

Of course, if he'd had any class, he'd have called it Four Candles.

Regardless, do I know what it involves?

No, I don't.

The Avengers Annual #15

And let us end with the Avengers' 15th annual. One in which the eastern and western teams take each other on in a baseball game!

Unfortunately for them - but, possibly fortunately for anyone who doesn't like baseball - they're attacked by Freedom Force who intend to arrest them - just as they've also attempted to arrest the X-Men, this month.

Freedom Force are victorious and take their captives to a place called the Vault where they're to be tried for treason, thanks to the testimony of one of their own former members!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I paid cash money to see two of the movies listed here in the theatre. I liked RUTHLESS PEOPLE and hated INVADERS FROM MARS. I got around to watching FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF just a few years ago. People really seem to love that movie but I thought it was smug and just not very funny.

DAKOTA NORTH was the only one of these Lucky Bag goodies that I got back in the Long Ago. I liked Tony Salmons’ artwork a lot, and he got even better later on. The VIGILANTE mini-series that he did with James Robinson in the early 90s is STUNNING.

b.t.

Matthew McKinnon said...

I saw Labyrinth at the cinema but I’m sure it was in 1985 - the things that were going on in my life were definitely not 1986 things. Weird. The internet thinks otherwise though. Oh well.

Saw Ferris Bueller and Mona Lisa on VHS. I don’t like Ferris Bueller either - difficult to take life lessons from a smug rich kid with no problems of his own. I kind of like Mona Lisa but the whole Palace Pictures 80s Brit neo-noir thing was laid on a bit thick in those days. Verging on pastiche. My wife likes it a lot though so there’s a copy in the house.

None of those comics! I read a TPB of Moonshadow 20 years later, though, and did not like it one bit.

Anonymous said...

PS I did not like Labyrinth. Even then it seemed like a dog’s dinner.