August 18th, 1973 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

This week in 1973 saw no sign of change at the top of the singles chart, with Gary Glitter's I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am) retaining the Number One spot it had already held for some time.

However, there was certainly change at the pinnacle of the corresponding album chart, with Peters and Lee's We Can Make It doing precisely that and making it all the way to Number One.

Not only that but, in doing so, the tuneful twosome were fending off the challenge of not one but two David Bowie albums because Aladdin Sane and Hunky Dory were at Number Two and Three respectively. In fact, Bowie, that week, had five albums in the Top 30.

It's an epoch-shattering day for Marvel UK, as the Avengers make their blockbusting debut in its pages. That devilish fiend Loki has come up with a plan that involves something or other which, thanks to a misdirected radio signal, leads to five of the company's greatest heroes uniting to lock him in a lead chamber.

I can't help feeling that wasn't the best plan he ever had.

Regardless, a brand new super-team is born and it can only lead to an exciting development for British comics fans, in the not-too-distant future.

Meanwhile, in their strip, the Fantastic Four are still battling the malevolent menace of the Hate-Monger.

It looks like we've reached that legendary tale in which, trapped beneath a pile of machinery in Doc Ock's soon-to-be-flooded base, Spidey has to use all his might to break free, in order to deliver a life-saving serum to his Aunt May's sick bed.

Perhaps not so legendarily, in Thor's strip, Loki - showing no signs of being locked in a lead chamber - sends the Cobra and Mr Hyde to kidnap Jane Foster!

As a result of it all, we get to discover that Thor has the power to make time stand still. A power I can't remember ever being used again.

Then again, he once defeated the Absorbing Man by using his power to transmute elements. Another power I don't remember him ever using again.

But forget all that. All that really matters is that, once more, we have a chance to win £1 per week for a year!

Speak Your Brain! Part 59. If you could be a super-hero, who would it be?

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

It's coming! It's in the trees!

That's right! It's the return of the feature you can only find on sites that, in lieu of a proper intro, like to quote lines from movies that have been recycled for use in popular hit singles!

A feature so awesome that I can't stop using exclamation marks!

That feature is, of course, the one in which the first person to comment, below, gets to decide the topic of the day!

That day is today!

The place is here!

The hour is now!

The Marvel Lucky Bag - August 1983.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

No one's going to claim this month in 1983 was a great one for movies but it did give us such cinematic gems as Cujo, Curse of the Pink Panther, Smokey and the Bandit Part 3, Prisoners of the Lost Universe and Hercules.

Like I said, no one's going to claim it was a great month.

But was it a better month for a randomly selected bunch of Marvel comics?

The Hulk gets his twelfth annual and celebrates by sporting the dullest cover in his entire history.

Inside, I've no doubt that far more excitement unfolds - but I don't know what, other than that it involves a character called K'Rel.

From that name, I'm going to assume he/she or it is a space alien.

However, what does give us grounds for optimism is that not only does the tale have 39 pages, it's drawn by the returning Hulk legend that is Happy Herb Trimpe.

The book that won't stop asking me questions I don't know the answer to demands enlightenment upon what would have happened had Dr Strange not become master of the mystic arts.

It seems Barron Mordo would have become master of the mystic arts.

And I suspect that can only be bad news for everyone except Dormammu.

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe reaches the letters N and P, beginning with Namorita and climaxing with Pyro.

Here's a thing I know nothing of, as Marvel's latest graphic novel gives us Ron Wilson's Super Boxers.  

However, it's not Rocking Ron who paints the cover. That's provided by Big Bill Sienkiewicz who gives us a thing that obfuscates more than it enlightens.

Ka-Zar gets himself a wraparound cover thanks to Armando Gil, while, inside, the jungle lord has an adventure the world knows as Twisted Corridors. Although it may not be a very active adventure, as the tale finds him in a coma.

I don't tend to give GI Joe's book much, if any, attention in this feature but here it is, with a mysterious figure dominating its frontispiece.

Inside, it would appear the Joes figure out that Springfield is a Cobra base!

Bad news indeed for Homer Simpson.

However, our heroes attack in force.

Only to be repelled by Destro.

Meanwhile, Snake-eyes and Venom escape a watery trap.

Only to be captured by agents of Cobra!

Red Sonja gets the first issue in the latest of her seemingly endless string of short-lived books.

I can shed no light upon the story within, other than to say it bears the deathless title While Lovers Embrace--Demons Feed.

Unless I miss my magical guess, Dracula's reappeared in the world of Dr Strange.

And it would seem the search for the Book of the Darkhold has begun.

My knowledge of this one is pitiful.

However, I do note the cover declares there's a new look for Marvel comics.

What will this new look be?

And will we like it?

August 11th, 1973 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Change was notable by its absence at the summit of the UK hit parades, this week in 1973. Gary Glitter was still bossing things on the singles chart, thanks to I'm the Leader of The Gang (I Am!) while Various Artists' That'll Be the Day remained top of the heap on the LP listings.

Clearly, subsequent events mean I can't approve of that Number One single but tracks I do approve of on that chart are:

Life On Mars - David Bowie

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting - Elton John

Skweeze Me Pleeze Me - Slade

Live and Let Die - Paul McCartney and Wings

Albatross {1973} - Fleetwood Mac

Rubber Bullets - 10CC.

Can the Can - Suzi Quatro

and

See My Baby Jive - Wizzard.

Interesting to see ex-ELO founder Roy Wood on that chart twice, both as himself and as frontman of Wizzard. For that matter, Suzi Quatro too had more than one 45 on it.

 Also interesting to see Mungo Jerry at Number Three, with a song that isn't that song.

Not that I know what this song is, as I don't recall ever having heard it in my entire life. Wikipedia tells me the band had two UK Number Ones - and two other singles that made the Top 5; which is a shock, as I think I've only ever heard one Mungo Jerry track, ever, anywhere.

Should you wish to study matters further, that week's singles chart can be found here.

While its parallel album chart resides right here.

Unless I miss my ever-loving guess, the Hulk's still in Asgard and still at war with its many and myriad warriors.

We kick off with Bruce Banner plunging into a bottomless pit and climax with the Hulk foiling the Enchantress' plans by helping win a battle with trolls. Odin, meanwhile, acts like the dolt we all know him to be.

And knock me down with a feather if it's not the first appearance of Marvel's latest sensational new villain Adolf Hitler the Hate-Monger.

I do believe this story may also contain the first appearance of Nick Fury in the "modern" world, as the sergeant-turned-CIA-colonel recruits the Fantastic Four to visit some country or other and thwart the schemes of the rabble-rousing rascal before he can spread his mischief to the United States.

It's bad news all around, with Aunt May on the brink of death, thanks to radioactivity in her system. While, wouldn't you know it, Dr Octopus has stolen the isotope needed to create the serum that will save her life.

I do believe the radioactivity got there due to a blood transfusion from Peter.

I suppose it does pose the obvious question of why she doesn't now have spider-powers too.

Elsewhere, Thor's still battling the Grey Gargoyle and his touch of stone.

But that's not all. If the cover's to be believed, Marvel's gone mad - with yet another great competition inside!

Forty years ago today - August 1983.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Look out, Past! Here we come!

This month's exciting developments are that, despite - or possibly because of - his recent heart attack, Dum Dum Dugan is appointed deputy director of SHIELD, and Cap has to deal with an escalating domestic abuse situation that involves a gun-toting drunkard.

Cloak and Dagger are back!

And so is the Punisher who uses the Boomerang's talents to escape the prison he's been held in.

I have a strong suspicion that, with all these vigilantes on the roam, It can only be a matter of time before the four of them come to blows.

When Jane Foster's former boyfriend starts publicly accusing Don Blake of having murdered her, Thor feels he has no choice but to visit the man and take him and Sif to the homeworld of Kamo Tharnn in search of the Runestaff which might restore the late nurse to life.

But is there any trace of her left to resurrect?

Things enter High-Drama Mode when Galactus decides it's about time he stopped dieting and ate the Skrull homeworld.

But, back on Earth, the Richardses only concern is finding a new house to live in.

And, also, Sue's just revealed she's once again pregnant.

I remember this tale containing a strange sequence in which Galactus has a conversation with Death who's portrayed as being his sister or somesuch. Is this an element that's new or have I just not been paying enough attention previously?

I can shed no light upon what transpires within the pages of this epic, other than to say it features the villains Bolar and Pendak and that they both die - as all who cross Conan tend to.

It's Crisis Time because Tony Stark's losing battle with the bottle has seen him lose control of his company to arch-nemesis Obadiah Stane.

Meanwhile, the triumphant Stane sends Rhodey on a wild goose chase to liberate a woman called Indries Moomji from people who call themselves the Sisterhood of Ishtar. He succeeds in that but is everything as it seems to be?

It's a big day for us all, as Mary Jane returns from wherever it is she's been!

And walks straight in on Peter canoodling with another man's woman.

Is MJ upset about this?

Of course she's not. She's MJ.

But just why is she back and how does it relate to the rest of this issue?

That, I can't answer because I don't recall anything of the rest of this issue. Clearly, whoever is its villain is seriously unmemorable.

The X-Men arrive in Japan, for Wolverine's wedding but the groom's not happy to see Rogue among them.

And that's the least of his problems because world-class party pooper Viper shows up and poisons the whole lot of them!

There's only one thing for it. Wolvie will have to go after her lackey the Silver Samurai - with Rogue in tow.

It looks like we're about to get yet another stab at telling the definitive origin of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, as Wanda spends the whole issue chatting about it with She-Hulk or Captain Marvel or someone.

I have to say that cover wouldn't exactly get me desperate to buy this comic.

The man without fear travels all the way to Japan where he allies himself with Dark Wind's daughter in a bid to prevent the crippled Bullseye from being repaired with a metal skeleton, Wolverine style.

But, hold on. The X-Men are in Japan? Daredevil's in Japan? There's a bid to turn Bullseye into Wolverine Mark II? Do I detect an impending crossover?

It's an odd one when the Hulk travels to a future in which the Earth's remaining populace are kept in a permanent state of warfare, thanks to them being constantly brainwashed by a giant statue of the long-dead Kang.

Can the emerald scientist bring an end to the nightmare?

And can Marvel avoid being sued by Harlan Ellison over the yarn's resemblance to his tale Soldier?

The Marvel Lucky Bag - August 1973.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

August 1973 saw no shortage of famous films in the cinemas of mankind. It was a month, after all, which saw the unveiling of such works as American Graffiti, Jesus Christ Superstar, Westworld, Electra Glide in Blue, The Naked Ape, Enter the Dragon and High Plains Drifter.

It also saw the release of the, possibly, less celebrated Blackenstein, and something called The Boy Who Cried Werewolf which starred Kerwin Mathews of 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Jack the Giant Killer fame. Frankly, they both sound like the kind of film I have to see.

Judging by that cover, Doc and the gang find themselves up against a bullet-proof giant!

That, and that alone, is all the light I can shed upon the interiors of this tale.

A brand new title hits the shelves!

And does so by reprinting that epic tale of how Hercules almost became a Hollywood star but became, instead, trapped within the dismal realm of Hades!

There's also a Tales of Asgard reprint in which Loki convinces King Hymir to put Thor to a deadly test. A test the thunder god must win - or become a slave of that evil monarch!

As if Spider-Man didn't have enough to worry about with one early 1970s lycanthrope in his life, he now has to put up with another, as he and the Werewolf by Night must scupper Moondark's plot to take over San Francisco.

It's a hard life in the jungle and, after just five issues, Shanna's mag hits the buffers. However, with its demise, it introduces Nekra to the Marvel universe.

I have a feeling this is the one which gives us the weird retelling of Yellow Submarine, as a quartet of strangers arrive in their golden submersible to request Namor's help in overthrowing the tyrant who's taken over their undersea paradise of Zephyrland.

The living Mummy makes his bandage-bothering debut and immediately goes looking for the descendant of the man who cursed him, fully 3,000 years ago.

And another new mag makes its entrance. This time, sporting a cover by Esteban Maroto.

Upon its myriad pages, we get an adventure for Morbius the living vampire, a 1950s Bill Everett werewolf tale, a photo-heavy vampire retrospective by Chris Claremont, an adaptation of John Polidori's The Vampyre, something called Satan Can Wait and Mark Evanier's look at the worst vampire films ever made.

What's this? Warlock discovers that Counter-Earth's Doc Doom is a good guy and it's Reed Richards who's a villain?

Not only that but the latter scientist is also the unstoppable powerhouse known as The Brute?

It's non-stop drama when the man called Victorius kidnaps Bobbi Morse and takes her to his AIM fortress.

Nick Fury gives Ka-Zar the super-soldier serum and sends him after them - but, when he gets there, the jungle lord throws away the serum before going in to confront the wrongdoer.

Tactics are clearly not our hero's strong point.

August 4th, 1973 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Let me just check what day it is.

By Heimdall's beard, it's Thursday!

And Thursday's named after Thor!

And Thor was a strip in Spider-Man Comics Weekly!

By my troth, that can only mean one thing.

That it's time to look at what that book and its older brother were up to, fifty years ago this veritable week!

It's a special treat for us all, as Judo Jim Starlin is back on cover duties!

And that's probably because this week's main Hulk tale isn't a Hulk tale at all.

It's a Captain Marvel tale!

It's true, this week's lead story's sourced from that hero's 21st issue but features the novel wheeze of removing the good captain completely from his own adventure, as UK readers are not yet familiar with him.

Therefore, Marvel UK clearly couldn't use that issue's original cover.

A Captain Marvel tale with Mar-Vell completely expunged might seem like madness but I'm sure the talents responsible are more than capable of turning it into a truncated thriller.

After that, we get the green grappler's first visit to Asgard when Loki pits him against Odin's forces, including the Warriors Three.

And then, back on Earth, the Warriors Four, otherwise known as the FF, conclude their first battle with the Molecule Man.

But, of course, what really matters is we get the chance to discover if any of us is the lucky winner of the football competition!

It's yet more trauma for Peter Parker - and, presumably, Dr Bromwell - as Aunt May becomes seriously ill on our hero's first day at university.

But that might turn out to be the least of his worries, seeing as how that rapacious rogue of rottenness the Master Planner's busy stealing scientific gadgets.

But who is the Master Planner?

And where's his base?

Elsewhere, Thor has his first clash with the Grey Gargoyle when a scientist gains the power to turn himself - and others - to stone.

Hoping to gain the secret of immortality, he heads straight for a punch-up with Thor.

Needless to say, he's thwarted in his aims.

And we must celebrate because there's yet another chance to find out if we've won that football competition!