June 30th, 1976 - Marvel UK, 40 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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The longest day of the year has come and gone and, as the sun sinks lower in the sky, let us sink lower into the past and discover just what delights awaited us, within our local newsagents, this very week in 1976.

Neal Adams arrives on the Avengers' strip, even as their comic approaches its twilight days. It seems that even the power of Nifty Neal won't be enough to save it.

I do believe Conan's having an encounter with mystery minstrel Laza-Lanti who has problems with a demon from a place called Dark Valley.

And it's bad news for the Avengers, even beyond the impending cancellation of their book, because populist politician H Warren Craddock has launched an anti-alien commission and demanded the team hand Captain Marvel over to it!

Far more importantly than even that, I suspect, is that this is the issue in which we see the Vision wearing a casual sweater whilst playing a game of chess.

As for Shang-Chi, he's defending a mysterious circus from the Warlords of the Web.

Whoever that might be.

That's a very dramatic cover by Larking Bob Larkin. So dramatic, in fact, that I remember being motivated to whip out my sketchpad and copy it, as a youth.

But, inside, I do believe we may have reached the unforgettable phenomenon of Jason and Alexander taking refuge in a secret hideout inside one of the heads of Mount Rushmore.

Elsewhere, it seems that Blade and Dracula have teamed up against Doctor Sun, although Blade is quickly captured by the fiend, after being distracted by the vampire who murdered his mother.

In the Man-Thing's strip, we finally reach the end of the Foolkiller saga.

And I think Ka-Zar sets off in search of Zabu who he thought was dead but now thinks is alive.

But what's this? Despite the cover's confident claim, it doesn't look like Captain Marvel appears in this issue at all. Will we never get to see the conclusion of his battle with Thanos and the Cosmic Cube?

And does this mean the good captain changed his hair colour for nothing?

The fake Vulture's still causing trouble for our hero who has to begin the issue by trying to survive a fall from a great height.

But is that villain really the Vulture?

And just how does he tie in with a noticeably-similar looking professor at Peter Parker's university?

After that, no matter what the cover tells us, the Mighty Thor is, of course, in the grip of Infinity. Not Eternity.

Or, at least, Odin is, as he continues to battle a mysterious foe from who knows where.

Back on Earth, the Thing and Power Man must intervene when a scientist's useless experiment unleashes a 300-foot tall monster that's determined to flatten New York!

I suspect that Iron Man's still up against the menace of the Night Phantom.

And Dr Strange continues to have lookalike issues at the Dance of the Red Death.

But can it be?

Can our friendly neighbourhood Hulk be back in Canada?

Yes, he can.

And things are about to get inconvenient for him when the sister of the man who became the Wendigo decides to transfer the creature's curse onto him!

Following that, we discover the breath-taking origin of Nighthawk and see him frame Daredevil for a crime he has not committed!

The X-Men are, once more, up against the menace of Magneto who, as always, quickly gains the upper hand against them.

And that's not the only X action we get, because we're also treated to the Werner Roth drawn feature that tells us all we need to know about Cyclops and his powers.

Including the shocking revelation that his eye blasts don't give off heat!

The cover may trumpet that the Frightful Four are back, but the much bigger news is that Agatha Harkness arrives when the FF go looking for a baby-sitter and find one with abilities that are rare in that profession.

Next, we encounter the first appearance of Tiger Shark in the Sub-Mariner's life, as an ex-Olympic swimmer decides to trust the evil Dr Dorcas to restore his swimming abilities.

Elsewhere, Captain America survives an ambush before answering the Black Panther’s call to help defend Wakanda from mysterious invaders. I would not be surprised if Baron Zemo is about to raise his masked head.

Nick Fury, as you'd expect, prevents Hydra’s Overkill Horn from triggering global nuclear destruction.

The Ghost Rider survives a deadly fall before rushing back to the rodeo, in order to confront the evil Snake Dance.

And poor old Roxanne Simpson may, yet again, be in danger of getting sacrificed. I swear to God I've never encountered any human being who's as sacrifice-prone as she is.