Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Has there ever been life on Mars?
This week in 1976 may have given people reason to ponder, as it was the week in which NASA released its now infamous Face on Mars photo, taken during the Viking 1 mission.
Rather more terrestrially, Trinidad and Tobago became a republic with President Ellis Clarke replacing Elizabeth II as its head of state.
And, in the world of sport, reigning Formula One Champion Niki Lauda suffered serious burns in the German Grand Prix, thanks to a crash that came close to killing him.
You couldn't accuse this of not being a landmark issue. Not only are Hammer and Anvil causing trouble but we're likely to see the death of Crackajack Jackson, shortly after he teaches the Hulk to read and write!
More important than even that, I'm pretty sure this is the adventure in which the Hulk first discovers he likes baked beans.
When it comes to the Avengers; Captain Marvel and Carol Danvers are captives of the Skrulls, and Goliath, the Vision, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are quickly totalled by those selfsame aliens disguised as the FF.
Conan, meanwhile, escorts the supposedly dead sorcerer Zoqquanor and his companion Stefanya across lands that bring them into conflict with goblins!
But feel sympathy for the Stunt-Master who's been convinced to steal a film canister - only to discover he's been framed in an insurance scam!
Fortunately for him, Daredevil's around to help clear his name.
I do suspect this is the epic in which the Human Torch goes on the rampage in the Great Refuge, in an attempt to win back Crystal.
And, whisper it loudly but I think he may encounter a talking yeti along the way!
Elsewhere, while SHIELD investigates Hydra, Nick Fury has a perilous run-in with that organisation's homicidal Dreadnought robot - on board the Helicarrier!
In the world of politics, the Sub-Mariner confronts the diabolical Destiny who's aiming to become President of the United States. Inevitably, such arrogance and delusion leads to the villain's downfall.
The Ghost Rider discovers yet more of how Linda Littletrees became the Witch-Woman
And Captain America tracks a Nazi war criminal to the Red Skull's secret island where the crimson craniumed cornball is getting ready to activate his Fourth and deadliest Sleeper!
What a striking and memorable cover by larking Bob Larkin. Anyone who doesn't want to buy the mag after seeing that must have something wrong with them or possess an unnatural aversion to apes, skulls and demons.
But, hold. I detect a 9p price tag, meaning The Mighty World of Marvel is now the only Marvel UK publication that's still available for 8p.
According to the Bank of England's inflation calculator, 9p in 1976 equates to 63p in current prices, while 8p equals 56p.
All that aside, I do believe that Jason and Alexander find themselves heading towards danger when they find themselves on The Way to the Psychedrome!
But in the overall scheme of things, that's small potatoes because the Son of Satan's only gone and found his way to Hell!
From wherewithin, he manages to thwart his father and run off with his trident, his flying chariot and his horsie things. Thus concludes the Marvel exorcist's second adventure and, I suspect, his final adventure within the pages of this comic.
Next, the Man-Thing's still caught up in the plans of a dead clown who insists everyone should know his life story.
In the pages of Ka-Zar, a man called Tomas gets both angry and even when his father proclaims his brother to be the new tribal leader. Thus, he kills his brother but is, in turn, bumped off by the mate of a dinosaur he slew earlier.
And we conclude the issue with Part Two of Marvel's reprint of its own adaptation of the first Planet of the Apes movie.
Spidey's still having trouble with the Molten Man.
Although, in truth, Moltie's having far more trouble than Spider-Man is, as, if untreated, his condition will lead to his death!
Thor's still having major problems with the enigmatic Infinity who's taken possession of Odin and set him on the Thunder God!
Moon Knight continues to battle the Conquer-Lord, on a giant chessboard.
And it's a battle the vampire somehow wins - in a drama drawn by those masters of depicting both characters; Gene Colan and Tom Palmer!
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35 comments:
To me, that ape's slightly reminiscent of Iron Man # 100's cover:
https://gocollect.com/comic/iron-man-100
Phillip
Funny how Torch and Subby really seem to be just the same type of character. Impulsive, not seemingly too bright.
Steve - Thanks for those Beatles references a few posts ago. I did listen to both and enjoyed them. I especially enjoyed the song by the male singer, but I forget his name.
CH
And, I don’t know if there is life on Mars or not. Maybe there’s some amino acids floating around, who knows?
But Charlie does know that Jack Kirby’s “space Odyssey 2001 “is excellent! Thanks to all you guys that recommended it. I’m about halfway through where Hal killed the guy walking in space who then got sucked into Jupiter’s gravitation and fell to Jupiter.
Great art by Jack Kirby.
This was the final painted cover for Planet Of The Apes with 29 issues still to go.
Glad you’re digging it, Charlie Joe. And relieved too — I’d hate to be partly responsible for you shelling out that much dough for something you didn’t like.
b.t.
I also loved Kirby's 2001. Blew my mind,
Had it when I was a kid, I didn't even know it was a movie!
I've got the Moon Knight comic. It was an issue of Marvel Spotlight, I think.
The "Conquer Lord" (yikes, who came up with that) fed people to alligators.
Jeez, man. that's pretty harsh. It's a dick move, even for a super-villain.
It was Moench, right? Not his best work,
M.P.
M.P.
woop! signed off twice.
BT - I did give consideration to the $40 price tag for SPACE ODYSSEY 2001 by KIRBY. And that was about the cheapest I could find one that was in decent shape.
But then I thought… What the heck… If me and the Mrs. go get a hamburger and a sarsaparilla that’s $40 anymore. And then 6 hours later we are hungry again.
If we want to go see that Odyssey movie in 70 mm IMAX in one of the 23 theaters in America that can show 70 mm IMAX, it is gonna cost us $25 a ticket or $50 total for three hours of entertainment then then…Poof… The experience is over.
This will take me a few hours over many days to read. But the experience is never over because I still have the tangible book and can go back and reread it again which I sure surely will do.
It’s actually a good investment compared to other things like eating and watching movies! It’s tangible. It’s forever!
CH
Charlie/Joe, two hamburgers and two drinks cost $40??? Trump's America is even worse than I thought!
Charlie/Joe, you recently said you missed the monoculture and yesterday I was reading an online article by The Guardian (UK newspaper) about the possible death of the monoculture. The article was triggered by the fact that the song "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender & Olivia Dean has spent a record-breaking 19 weeks at No.1 in the UK even though many people have never heard of it (me included- I first heard about the song a few days ago when Steve mentioned its' chart-topping longevity). But was the monoculture exaggerated anyway? Neither of my parents could have named a single song by the Beatles and our fellow SDC commenter Matthew McKinnon has said he was totally unaware of Live Aid even though he was 14 at the time.
On the subject of possible life on Mars - last week's edition of INSIDE SCIENCE on BBC Radio 4 was all about the possibility of alien life and claimed there could be life in the clouds of Venus as well as underground on Mars and beneath the frozen surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. In my opinion 99.9999% of all life in the universe consists of primitive single-celled microbes while multi-cellular life (plants and animals) are VERY rare and advanced scientific civilisations are SO rare that ours is probably the ONLY one in the entire Milky Way galaxy but at least we won't get conquered by hostile aliens!
To be fair, Colin, the hamburger is fresh meat (never frozen) and does have a slice of cheese and some guacamole on it and it comes with a side dish typically fries, but me and the Mrs. get jicama coleslaw.
And that’s $40 but what I did not mention is that in America, we are expected to tip 20 to 25%. So that’s another eight to $10 on the bill.
And expectation to be tipping people is, IMO, out of control in the United States. Now it’s even common to go into a fast food place or a bagel and coffee place or whatever and when you pay on the credit card machine, it’s flashing at you like death con three! Do you wish to leave a tip? And you have three options : 15, 20 and 25%. Or, there is the “no tip“option. (and it literally says that! But the general fear is that the people behind the counter and putting your taco together will spit in your food or something if you don’t leave a tip so… in America, we call it the “the no spit, tip. “
On Wednesday, I had a power cut. It lasted for 24 hours, and was caused by Northern Powergrid, digging up the road. Even in the 70s, power cuts didn't last that long! Drinking water, instead of tea or coffee, and no tv - let alone SDC, on the internet! It really makes you take stock. I don't suppose anyone'll get any compensation for defrosted freezers ( I only lost 3 packets of cheapo fish fingers, and some chips, but others will have had packed freezers! ) Plus, I got fish & chinkers for tea ( which cost a bob or two! ) The national number for reporting power cuts is 105!
Phillip
Freezers are usually alright for 24 hours, aren’t they? They’re pretty well insulated.
I’ve been having the same thoughts regarding objects vs experiences. I baulk at the price of a book or film and then think ‘hang on, that’s less than a round of watered-down drinks in a pub’.
PS - The Odyssey is the first Nolan film I haven’t watched in IMAX. After the visually dreary and aurally deafening Oppenheimer, that was it for me. I’m done spending £55 on a pair of tickets for a boringly shot film.
Mine's a very old freezer. The fish fingers packets were somewhat soggy, so I wasn't risking heating them up, the next day.
Phillip
Phillip, I had a power cut last week but it lasted for about two minutes and I only knew it had happened at all because my radio went dead. Power cuts are incredibly rare nowadays, not like the '70s when they happened regularly and lasted for hours.
Rein Me In breaks its' own record and scores a 20th week at No.1 on the UK singles chart!
OK, Charlie dug out Back Issue number 152 from July 2024 because it speaks about Marvel Classics illustrated Which we were talking about a few days ago.
The original Classics illustrated, which I assume you had in England too, stopped publishing in 1971 with 169 titles.
In 1973 Pendulum started publishing “Now Age “classic illustrated paperbacks in black-and-white. They published over 70 books and used well-regarded writers like Otto binder and filipino artists like Alex Niño.
Doug Moench had been reading the Now Age classics. One day Stan Lee walks in and says to him, “so what are you going to do for Marvel today, Doug? “
Doug said, “let’s start a new line of Marvel’s versions of the Classics Illustrated. “. Then Stan said “OK great idea. Talk to Roy about it. Let’s get started immediately.” That was that. Done deal.
Marvel then approached Now Age and reprinted the contents of their first 12 issues but changed the covers.
Marvel only published 36 classics, from
1976 - 1978. . That there were no advertisements inside had to hurt. Also Doug and others said being only 48 pages probably didnt help, not doing sufficient justice to the original stories.
CH
I've just heard that William Orbit died recently aged 69. Among other things he was the genius producer behind Madonna's RAY OF LIGHT album from 1998 which is considered to be Madge's magnum opus and I'd definitely agree with that!
Yeah, William Orbit dying is sort of a shock, but also sort of not. I read an interview with him a few years ago where he spoke about getting into cocaine in middle age (!) and getting badly addicted, then having a breakdown and being sectioned. Those sorts of events will shorten your life for sure.
I never liked anything he did - despite trying. Even to this day if I see an early album of his in a charity shop I’ll give it a go, but so far no luck. I really did not like his Madonna work, and really really did not like his Pieces In A Modern Style (?) classical covers.
I did, however, like the fact that after tooling around the fringes of electronic music and rave for years he finally hit it big and had some success. When just keeping on keeping on pays for someone off it’s nice.
Same as Moby, who after his initial rave stuff (which I liked) spent most of the 90s banging out crap album after crap album with no-one listening until he hit it big with ‘Play’.
Phil-
There could be life growing in your freezer. Just like in the cold subterranean oceans of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.
Can you imagine what might be swimming around down there? Good God.
Be careful when you stick your hand in that freezer.
I'd hate to hear about you on NPR.
M.P.
Colin - I had a very short power cut (a few minutes), at the beginning of the week, too. Kind of a pre-shock/tremor, before the main event.
M.P. - It's definitely seen better days. I chip off the ice, periodically, with a screw driver. The trouble being, when I miss, I damage the plastic bit at the top. Still, it does the job, and I'm too stingy to get a new one! I had to look up NPR. In the power cut, the radio being the only entertainment I could get, I suppose NPR's quite apt! One thing the whole debacle taught me (after banging my toe in the dark), is keep the torch (flashlight) beside your bed, so you needn't stumble around in pitch darkness, looking for it!
Phillip
Charlie, Classics Illustrated comics were indeed reprinted in the UK. In fact, their American publisher - Gilberton - acquired the British company that had put out the reprints, Thorpe & Porter, as part of its effort to expand internationally.
Although before long T&P were acquired by the owners of DC -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorpe_&_Porter
-sean
Phillip, I've experienced short power cuts in recent years. I don't think they're rare these days at all, more that they just don't happen on as large a scale or for as long as in the 70s.
Like the local water outages that have had more publicity, they're a sign of decaying public infrastructure in Britain, a result of the under-investment in utilities that's been allowed to happen for a while now so a small rentier class could cream off profits.
If it isn't sorted out soon, the problem will get significantly worse.
-sean
Sean - Yes! What's annoying's Northern Powergrid not giving an advance warning, if they knew the power was going to be cut off. Unless it just happened through incompetence. Maybe contacting customers would cost money (or they just couldn't be arsed. ) They e-mailed, after the fact, so why not prior to it? Or else, the workmen were inexperienced, and nobody bothered training them properly. As regards under-investment, yes, we all know where the profits go. Nicola Shaw, head of Yorkshire Water, was completely shameless about her phenomenal salary and bonuses. She declared her massive wad was to "incentivise" her to improve Yorkshire Water. Well, it clearly hasn't worked.
Phillip
Don’t know about cocaine in middle age as a cure all, but it seems very clear that the “developed” world will soon be hit by a massive tsunami (not exaggerating) of peptides tailored for everything that ails you: torn miniscus, tennis elbow , broken leg, acne…
Ozempic / GLP-1 has been a runaway success.
Charlie’s son has been nagging Charlie for 5 years now to “acquire” some to treat a sore elbow and shoulder ar times.
One can acquire the esoteric peptides for “research purposes “ only as far as I can tell But I am not keen on injecting amino acids made in China. i wont eat food from China so…
But RFK is all in on them. The man who adores racoon penises, sniffed coke off toilet seats, dumped a dead bear in central park NY city for a joke, cut the head of a dead whale off and drove around with it on his car, and has / had brain worms has announced he is working full speed to legalize them. Yay.
Phillip, I grew up in a house with a coal fire so during those '70s power cuts we could still make tea by boiling a pan of water on the fire and we made toast on the fire too.
One of Count Binface's by-election policies is to force water company bosses to take an annual swim in a polluted river.
Colin - I remember my mum getting candles out, during the 70s power cuts. We started with coal, before getting gas. My brother & I once got shut in the coal shed, for misbehaving ( what can I say, it was the 70s! )
Phillip
You were lucky, Phillip! We used to dream about being shut in a coal shed...
But you try and tell the young people that these days, and they won't believe you.
-sean
Sean - Young people today, with their long hair, and their music...
Phillip
Colin - As you were discussing alien life, earlier, you might be interested to watch Richard Dolan giving his breakdown of the latest release of UFO/UAP files (Tranche 5):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYkgr0FjIGU
Phillip
Thanks, Phillip, but I'm fairly certain that alien spaceships aren't visiting Earth and abducting people!
Interesting stuff on UFOs Phillip. I must admit I'm fascinated by this subject but so far there's no real clear evidence. I feel that something's going on but I have no idea what it is but I'm certain it's not the Kree or the Skrulls !
Colin - The video's not about alien abductions! Dolan starts by examining FLIR (forward-looking infra red) footage of "cold orbs", taken by the US military, over the Gulf of Oman, in 2021! It's quite interesting, if you give it a chance.
Phillip
Paul - Yes, there's lots of fascinating stuff, but fakery also abounds. You need a foot in both camps! (Be both Mulder & Scully! )
Phillip
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