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Tuesday, 14 July 2026

The Marvel Lucky Bag - July 1986.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon
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Anyone entering a cinema, this month in 1986, had very little to complain about, as a whole slew of famous, notorious and unforgettable movies were unleashed, right then.

Among the gâteries Cinématographique one would have encountered were such things as About Last Night, Big Trouble in Little China, The Great Mouse Detective, Psycho III, Under the Cherry Moon, Howling II, Aliens, Haunted Honeymoon and The Patriot.

I am, of course, going to shock the world by nominating Aliens as my Steve Does Comics Film of the Month. They can't accuse me of not being controversial.

As for comics...

Eternals #10

Judging by that cover, it looks like things are taking a turn for the worse for Ike Harris.

And it all happens in a tale titled A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste! as brought to us by none other than Walt Simonson and Keith Pollard.

The New Mutants #41

My knowledge of the New Mutants is always limited but I do know that Dani Moonstar goes home for her holiday where she reunites with her former friend Pat Roberts who then pops his clogs, thanks to an inconvenient car accident.

I suspect that valuable life lessons are thus learnt.

The West Coast Avengers Annual #1

But what's this?

An Avenger betrays the other Avengers?

How can such a thing be true?

Then again, can we guess which Avenger it's most likely to be?

Judging by his personality and track record, I'm going to guess it's most likely to be Quicksilver.

And, guess what? It seems I'm right!

Now, the Avengers must battle his lackeys the Zodiac Life Model Decoys!

Maybe it's just me but I'm not feeling this is going to be the greatest Avengers story ever told.

Steelgrip Starkey #1

"...And the All-Purpose Power Tool!" declares the cover, clearly knowing what a man of my age likes.

All I know about the contents of this brand-new series is that, when danger strikes, Steelgrip Starkey relies on his engineering skills and blue-collar know-how to get things done.

The Bozz Chronicles #4

Strap yourself in as we encounter a place called Were-Town!

That's right.

Man-Town.

Sounds spooky.

Again, it's one I know little of but it's got a Bret Blevins cover that's hard to ignore and the adventure within is delivered by the typewriter/pencil combo of David Michelinie and John Ridgway.

Web of Spider-Man #16

But what of the third book belonging to Marvel's flagship hero?

As far as I can make out, Peter Parker and fellow reporter Joy Mercado investigate mysterious disappearances in Appalachia - only to unearth a secret underground operation exploiting gifted captives.

Needless to say, Spider-Man's not going to put up with that sort of thing, and infiltrates the operation.

But can even the amazing arachnid adventurer stop the villain of the piece?

The man called Magma?

13 comments:

  1. Folks from Appalachia always get a bad rap re: Spidey. Look at Vance nee Bowman nee Hammel. He is an upright guy, no?

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  2. The Appalachians welcomed the Missing Link as one of their own!

    Phillip

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  3. I saw THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA and ALIENS at the theatre and will likewise declare ALIENS the best of the bunch, although I remember MOUSE DETECTIVE being ‘Not Bad for a Disney cartoon’ (they’d been in a pretty long slump at the time) and BIG TROUBLE being goofy and fun.

    I didn’t get any of these comics in the Long Ago but that BOZZ CHRONICLES cover is indeed quite good. I remember thinking that series seemed Way Too Twee at the time, but now i’m intrigued.

    b.t.

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  4. Matthew McKinnon14 July 2026 at 21:03

    I saw Aliens (twice), but not it’ll regional distribution decreed we were fit for it in October 86). I’d been an Alien obsessive since I was 8, in 1979. So an action sequel hit all the right notes when I was 15.

    I still think it’s the best SF action film of all time.

    I didn’t see.Big Trouble In Little China. I only tried watching it about 12 years ago and lasted about 20 minutes. Dear me. When Carpenter misses the mark, he really misses the mark.

    And I still haven’t seen Under The Cherry Moon despite the associated Prince album being one of my favourite records of all time.

    Not one of these comics, though nice to see John Ridgway getting some US work this early.. I had no idea that Bozz comic existed.

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    1. John Ridgway was doing well in the US, Matthew - he also drew Solomon Kane #6 for Marvel this month.

      I guess he already had a calling card in America with that Miracleman story he did. With both Bozz and Solomon Kane both being period pieces, his style was an obvious fit and it would have been relatively easy for Marvel to get hold of him through the UK subsidiary, where he was drawing Dr Who regularly. By 1986 they'd probably caught on to the possibility that people working on original material in Britain might actually be an asset...

      -sean

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  5. This is important!!!

    Today is National Hot Dog Day in the USA!!!

    CH

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  6. I am sick to my stomach. Always France! Always England! Never Argentina! Does one watch on Sunday to hopefully see Argentina lose??? CH

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  7. Matthew McKinnon16 July 2026 at 15:00

    Damn it Charlie! My wife and I are going out for dinner tonight, otherwise I’d be eating hot dogs til bedtime. I LOVE hot dogs.

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  8. Charlie loves a dog too with a steamed bun with some poppy seeds on it, green relish, a little mustard! Dog gone, lol, I think I know I’m going to go to the doghouse for lunch!

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  9. And as a bit of humor, there is a hotdog place, not too far from where my wife grew up in Oak Park (home of Ernest Hemingway) called Felony Franks that hires ex-cons.

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  10. Joe - Hot dogs being 'hand held', and portable, being in Oak Park, Felony Franks were serving up 'A Movable Feast' ! (Just a bit of Papa Hemingway humour! )

    Phillip

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    1. PHILLIP! That is an absolutely genius connection of the doubts!

      Mrs. Charlie tells me that that is like the ONlY Hemingway written thingy not jammed down their young brains in school in Oak Park! She just googled and said, “OMG… that actually sounds worth reading” because, though an avid reader, she detested being force-fed Ernest and thus does not like his works! Oh my.

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  11. Joe - Yes, I can thoroughly recommend 'A Movable Feast'. Towards the end, it's got an absolutely hilarious road trip Hemingway took with F. Scott Fitzgerald! (Although I dare say Fitzgerald's account would have been different! ) It's one of those books I wish I'd known about when I was younger.

    Phillip

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