September 8th, 1976 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

September the 8th, 1976, was a night to remember for all comedy fans, with BBC1 showing both Carry On Up The Khyber and the first ever episode of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

Well, I'm sure it was great and I'm sure it was super but I didn't get where I am today by allowing TV to distract me from my comics reading. So, just what was our favourite comics company up to on that fateful date?

It's a matter of some vexation to me that I remember almost nothing of the Ghost Rider tales that were reprinted in The Titans each week.

I remember them being drawn by Mike Ploog. I remember there being a woman in them called Roxanne. I remember there being a story involving someone armed with rattlesnakes. And that's about it.

It's a shame as, ever since I first encountered Dormammu, I've wanted to have the ability to stand around boasting while my head's on fire. And Ghost Rider should therefore have been a major role model for me.

Still, at least I have my memories of the Nicolas Cage movies to keep me going.

It's the story that had to happen! Conan goes to war with vegetation!

I wonder what the thing on Midnight Island was? And which feature did it relate to?

Was it in the Planet of the Apes story? Was it in that week's Ka-Zar story? Was it in another strip altogether?

I'm also intrigued by the promise, "Special bonus! At last: the enemy uncaged!"

Had there been much demand for the enemy to be uncaged?

And if so, by whom?

And just who was this enemy they all wanted uncaged?

Hooray! It's the Mindworm!

Everyone else hates the Mindworm!

I love the Mindworm!

I demand to know why I never got to see anything of him again after this issue!

Not only that but, in this tale, we get to see Peter Parker and Flash Thompson share a flat!

What more could you want from a Spider-Man tale?

Fifty years ago this month - September 1966.

September 1966 was an historic month in the history of television, with Star Trek, Ron Ely's Tarzan, The Monkees and Mission Impossible all making their very first appearance.

Clearly, Marvel was going to have to pull out all the stops if it was going to yank us away from our TV screens that month.

Admittedly, they wouldn't have had to work that hard to yank me away from my TV screen, as I was in England and probably couldn't see any of them until about two years later.

Still, what dynamic first appearances was Marvel going to fling at us, in order to counter those of the dread gogglebox?

Is this the first ever appearance of the Sons of the Serpent? And was there a single Sons of the Serpent storyline when I was young that didn't climax with the shocking reveal that their leader was actually black?

After the fifth time that that revelation was made, it had started to somewhat lose its dramatic impact.

As I work my way through these covers each month, I am increasingly of the opinion that the main reason Goliath/Giant-Man was in the Avengers was because Marvel felt it was dramatic to have a giant on the cover.

Hooray! The Owl is back! With his awesome power of gliding!

I'm trying to recall if this was his first appearance since his debut in issue #3. At the time, that seemed like a massive gap, although it was only seventeen issues.

I believe this story may have featured the first appearance of his giant mechanical owl. A thing so huge, bulky and heavy that it'd clearly never be able to get off the ground in the real world.

I have a feeling this may feature the first appearance of Prester John, of whom I'd never heard until I read this story, proving once more the educational value of comics.

I believe this means it's also the first appearance of the Evil Eye. And we all remember the trouble that ended up causing.

Come to think of it, has Thanos ever tried to get his hands on it? He's tried to get his hands on every other awesome object in the Marvel Universe. The last I heard, he'd worked his way through so many awesome objects that he was reduced to trying to get his hands on the Leap-Frog's shoe springs while declaring, "With the Leap-Frog's shoe springs, nothing can stop me destroying the universe! Nothing!"

I believe that Death then told him he might benefit from taking a holiday for a while.

A cover that doesn't exactly leave you in doubt as to who wins the most dramatic clash yet between Spidey and his arch-nemesis.

I know nothing of this tale - or of Kaluu.

I assume the Ancient One's on the brink of death again. It was always a contest between the Ancient One and Aunt May to see which one would pop their clogs first.

I have a suspicion that, fifty years later, they're both still alive and well, and possibly younger than they were then.

A very odd cover indeed by Gene Colan.

I always had a soft spot for the Titanium Man. He was appealingly anti-social.

I have no idea at all as to what happens in this story. Wasn't there one, around this time, where Thunderbolt Ross gets captured by The Leader or an enemy power or something and the Hulk has to rescue him or something, from somewhere or other?

Hooray! Thor's making his first ever visit to the lovely planet of Rigel!

And that means a first-ever battle with Ego can't be far behind.

Wasn't there a villain called The Locust who showed up in one of the first Hulk tales that Sal Buscema drew? Is it the same Locust?

And why does he seen to be holding a microphone in a way that suggests he's about to inflict a spot of karaoke on the X-Men?

September 1st, 1976 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

Get down the disco and cover yourself in glitter - because, in this week in 1976, Dancing Queen by ABBA hit the Number One slot on the British singles chart and cemented their position as the late 1970s' supreme musical force. Was there anyone not excited by this development?

Of course there wasn't!

But could the output of Marvel UK match it for epoch-making excitement?

I wonder what the Red Skull's trap of doom was?

Did it involve the Cosmic Cube? It always seemed to feature in his plans in this era of Marvel history.

Given its all-powerfulness, you do wonder why he never seemed to be able to win, even when he had it.

I spot a cover by Happy Herb Trimpe.

Having your eyeballs on stalks may do wonders for your image if you're trying to look disturbing but I can't help feeling it's a serious disadvantage if you're planning to get into a fist fight. It does make it very easy for your foe to do you a mischief.

And you're going to impress no one down the disco, dancing to ABBA, with your eyeballs tied in knots.

It's another classic issue, as the Inhumans get involved in the Kree/Skrull War.

I remember being very impressed by the sequence in which Triton emerges from the sewers.

In fact, I was so impressed by it that, ever since, I've made it  my policy to always arrive everywhere via the sewers.

Is the Wolf-Woman in the Conan story the woman who introduced Conan to the ways of physical naughtiness? Or was that another wolf-woman I'm thinking of?

I believe the Thor story is the senses-shattering climax of the Infinity storyline.

I have a soft spot for any story that features Hela. I do feel it's impossible to insert a seven foot tall death goddess into a tale without improving it.

Speaking of things that could be improved upon, this appears to be the issue in which the Invaders invade the comic. I remember not welcoming this development with open arms at the time.

They definitely needed a seven foot tall death goddess to be let loose on them.

Comic book film adaptations you have owned.

Last week's post about Marvel's stab at doing Close Encounters of the Third Kind made me realise that, as a youth, I had very few comics that adapted famous movies.

In fact, the only ones I can remember ever reading were Marvel's Planet of the Apes adaptations, one issue of their take on Logan's Run, their version of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and their mighty adaptation of Battlestar Galactica.

Admittedly, some might claim Battlestar Galactica was a TV show, not a movie but I'm fairly sure I remember its first two episodes being stitched together and released in cinemas for the benefit of those who didn't know better.

From what I can recall, the Planet of the Apes adaptations were solid and The Golden Voyage of Sinbad was workmanlike, while the George Perez drawn Logan's Run was better than the movie.

The Battlestar Galactica adaptation lodged so strongly in my mind that, even having looked at several pages of it, on the internet, in the last twenty four hours, not one panel of those pages rings a single bell for me. Despite me having fond feelings for it, I take this as a worrying sign that it might not have been the most memorable thing ever published.

Yesterday, I discovered that Marvel at one point descended into total madness and did an adaptation of Robert Stigwood's Sgt Pepper movie.

I've previously argued that it was potentially unwise to do an adaptation of Close Encounters, what with it having a piece of music as its key moment. Bearing in mind that Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a musical and basically has nothing at all going for it apart from music, how on Earth could it possibly have been made to work as a comic, when comics can't do music?

Clearly, it couldn't because it would appear that the whole project proved to be so disastrous that Marvel refused to even release the thing in America, thus robbing the English-speaking world of what is no doubt an act of magnificent madness. Seemingly, if you want to read it, you can only do so if you can read French or German.

Anyway, those are my heartwarming memories and thoughts on the matter. Which comic book adaptations of movies have you read? And which have been your favourites and not-so-favourites?

August 25th, 1976 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

Hooray! I've got my bucket and spade ready and I'm sat astride a donkey while wearing a, "Kiss Me Quick," hat.

Why?

Because I was on holiday in that Rio de Janeiro of the north, Blackpool, when I first read these tales.

But just how holiday a mood were our favourite heroes and villains of Marvel UK in at the time?

And did they remember to pack their trunks?

The Sub-Mariner certainly remembered to pack his trunks. As always, it's the only item of clothing he has remembered to pack.

And thank God for that as he once again shows his awesome intellect by teaming up with a super-villain, having totally failed to spot that he's up to no good.

Needless to say, it all leads to war with the surface dwellers, and Subby suddenly realising he's been a bit of a wally.

That's quite a dramatic cover.

I do believe it's by Ron Wilson.

Admittedly, I only know that because the Grand Comics Database tells me it is. Frankly, I didn't have a clue who'd done it until they told me.

As always, I have no idea what the Ka-Zar story entails.

It's that one where the Hulk comes up against his own shadow - or at least an alien masquerading as his shadow. You'd struggle to call the tale a classic but I have a soft spot for it.

I believe it was in this tale that I first discovered that you can tell Hollywood movie fake dust from real dust by licking it to see if it tastes like soap.

This is a piece of knowledge that has, so far, not yet proven to be at all useful to me in my life.

Nonetheless, I bear that information in mind, just in case I need it one day.

Sheffield's Most Wanted. Part 18: Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind. Marvel Super Special #3.

It's back! That legendary feature where I talk about comics I never had as a youth but always wanted.

And that means it's time to get cinematical!

How well I recall the adverts for Marvel Super Special #3. Then again, it's hard to forget them, as they seemed to be a regular feature on the backs of Marvel UK's mags for months - if not years - on end.

But, even without that, how could anyone have forgotten them, seeing as the book featured a movie close to the hearts of all of us who love to make mountains from mashed potatoes?

In retrospect, exactly why I wanted this adaptation, I'm not sure, bearing in mind that I'd already seen the film and it was therefore hardly likely to contain any surprises for me.

I suspect my interest was almost entirely down to Bob Larkin's thrillingly dramatic cover and the never-ending appeal of flying saucers and little grey men. Not to mention the flat-topped mountain whose shape so reminded me of the slag heaps of South Yorkshire and the North Midlands that I was so familiar with in my youth. You see? If Steven Spielberg had grown up where I did, that film would have had a whole lot less mystery and glamour.

Then again, if he'd grown up where I did, E.T. would have been called Ee! Tea! and been a much different experience.

All that aside, my critical faculties tell me there's an obvious problem with doing a comic book adaptation of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

And that's that the whole movie hinges on a piece of music.

Bearing in mind that the one thing that comics can't do is music, how could it possibly be viable to do a comic book adaptation of it?

I have no idea.

Given that I've still never seen a copy of the thing, I fear the matter will have to remain as great a mystery to me as the true motives of the alien visitors who kidnap me from my bed every night and subject me to their nightmarish experiments.

I wouldn't mind but they're experiments in comedy improv.

Reader, words cannot express the dread horror of it all.

August 18th, 1976 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

In August of 1976, the UK finished the Montreal Olympics with three gold medals. As I type this deathless prose, we have twenty one gold medals.

Does this mean the past was rubbish compared to the present?

Yes it does.

Does this mean we were downhearted in 1976?

Of course it does.

Does this mean I wasn't interested in the 1976 Olympics?

Of course it does.

Fortunately, I didn't need sporting glory. Why would I? I had the power and majesty of Marvel UK to keep me going.

It's that tale where the Fantastic Four find themselves up against the Maggia - and having all kinds of trouble with them.

Maybe it's just me but the very idea of the Maggia turning up in the FF's book seems like near-heresy. Surely the people who took on Galactus, Annihilus and Dr Doom shouldn't be lumbered with fighting a bunch of small-time gangsters who can't even beat Daredevil.

Zzzax is back!

And I still don't have a clue how many times the letter Z should feature in his name.

Neither does he, I suspect.

Neither does the Hulk, I suspect.

Then again, the Hulk probably doesn't know how many times any letter should feature in any name.

That aside, I always liked Zzzax. He had an appealing air of menace about him.

It's a tale of pulse-pounding drama, as the Tarantula continues his reign of terror.

Perhaps more importantly, Harry finally finds out Peter Parker's secret identity.

Surely no good can come of that.

Happy Herb Trimpe gives us the cover to a story I have no memory of.

All I know is that here we are, in the future and they still haven't got round to building a psychedrome.

What on Earth are the fools playing at? Why are they wasting all that money on the Olympics when they should be building a psychedrome?

I still remember our childhood chant, "Psychedromes, not velodromes!" Have they forgotten it already?