The Marvel Lucky Bag - August 1985.

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

***

Movies. Movies Movies. What were they up to in August, 1985?

They were being released.

That's the kind of thing they do.

And these are those that what was being released:

Fright Night, Weird Science, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, The Bride, The Return of the Living Dead, Year of the Dragon, Godzilla 1985, Teen Wolf and American Ninja.

I have to admit it, that is probably the most 1985 list of films I've ever seen in my entire life.

Of them, I'm going to go for Return of the Living Dead as my favourite - even though I've not seen it since the 1980s - as I don't think much of the others, other than Godzilla 1985 which I remember being quite good, unless I'm mixing it up with another Godzilla film, which, given how many of them there are, is quite possible.

And now. Comics. Comics Comics.

The Defenders is still going strong after all these thousands of years and is doing so by doing something.

You may get the feeling I don't have a clue what happens in this one.

And you'd be right, other than that the tale's called Fun and is brought to us by Peter Gillis and Luke McDonnell, with a front cover by Frank Cirocco.

And what can Alien Legion be up to?

I've no idea but it's a tale that's called Rude Awakening despite not being the work of either Steve Rude or Bob Awakening.

Part 2 of Secret Wars Part II smacks us between the eyeballs with yet more action when the Beyonder begins to experience life as a human being but finds it difficult to adjust.

So, he asks Spider-Man for guidance on how to succeed as a person. Let's be honest, that's the last individual you should go to for such advice.

He then turns the office of Luke Cage, and Iron Fist into solid gold!

It's that comic I keep picking for this slot purely because of Bill Sienkiewicz covers.

As for what happens within, it would seem Shadowcat uses Illyana's Soulsword to transform her back into a human being, after her having been the Darkchilde.

And, of course, the Beyonder's hanging around, as well.

As far as I'm aware, there's no sign of the Beyonder here but there is plenty of the Micronauts who are trying to breach a space wall.

What's this? Back from the comic book graveyard? The Rawhide Kid rides again?

And it's not even a bunch of reprints? It's all-new magic, as the ageing cowpoke visits Laramie to place a rose on the grave of someone or other but then encounters a railroad crew who mock him for wearing  false teeth?

And it all happens thanks to the talents of Bill Mantlo and Herb Trimpe?

Someone who still has his teeth, and is returning purely through the medium of reprints, is Captain Marvel.

And he's doing it with mountains of Jim Starlin goodness. Therefore, it would be churlish to complain about it not being fresh material.

And another new mag hits us with old stuff, as Elfquest presents 21 pages recycled from WaRP Graphics' 1979 ElfQuest #1.

Forty years ago today - August 1985.

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

***

What magnificent and life-changing wonders await us in the following publications?

Schemes are both afoot and ahead, as the Enchantress' sister bewitches Thor with her magic - and then decides to turn her charms on Loki as well!

Meanwhile, on Earth, Beta Ray Bill and Sif tackle a gang of criminals whose mysterious leader is none other than Titanium Man!

Fortunately, when his gang discover he's a communist - and not a good old-fashioned all-American patriotic capitalist thief like they are - they turn on him!

And it's a living nightmare for the Fantastic Four who must contend with the awesome menace of Psycho-Man's new sidekick Malice.

Only to discover she's actually a cunningly disguised Sue Richards, out to get revenge for every slight the rest of the team have ever committed against her.

And, as you can imagine, that's quite a few slights.

Especially in Reed's case.

All those years of haughtily declaring, "Silence, Sue!" had to come back to punish him at some point.

I'm struggling to recall just what happens in this one but I do know the X-Men are growing resentful at having Magneto as their new ally; and that the Beyonder's hanging around, for reasons that aren't altogether clear.

Can it be?

Can Spider-Man be coming into conflict with the Wasp over a labour dispute?

It sort of can when he investigates a brownstone that's been firebombed and it seems a business she's a director of is to blame.

Not only that but our hero comes to blows with Paladin over it, not knowing he's the Wasp's boyfriend.

On an alien world, the Hulk and his strange little companions decide to rescue a mysterious alien woman who's being abducted by space ruffians. 

But are they right in assuming she's the innocent party?

A brand new villain called the Armadillo attacks the Avengers Mansion, in a bid to steal the body of giant-sized super-villain Goliath.

However, Cap's there to stop him.

And it turns out hes not a villain at all. He's been strong-armed into doing it by Dr Malus who's treating his sick wife and will cease that treatment if the Armadillo doesn't do what he wants him to.

Needless to say, the star-spangled sentimentalist isn't going to put up with that sort of unethical behaviour from a member of the medical profession and he marks Dr Malus' cards for him.

But, then, the Beyonder decides Captain America is so great that he's going to become him!

It's a bit of a rest and recuperation issue, with everyone feeling down about the state of the Savage Land, following Terminus' attack on it, and then heading off to watch Spider-Man beat up Firelord.

Apart from that, Captain Marvel's still in a far-flung galaxy and attempting to escape Nebula's space pirates who want her to attack a planet occupied by the Skrulls.

Daredevil takes an excursion to the city of canals to deal with the mob who robbed Heather Glenn's apartment and did it straight after she committed suicide.

Needless to say, despite various death traps, and Italian cliches, our hero is ultimately triumphant.

In a story some of us find confusing, Conan, Tetra and her father seek the other half of a treasure map held by a man called Keiv, deep in Pictish territory.

Only for them to discover the other half of that map has been carved on the chest of a man called Delmurio.

Who're the good guys in this story, who're the bad guys and who's on whose side, are all things I'd struggle to tell you.

As far as I can remember, Spider-Man spends the entire issue chasing a minor offender all around the streets of New York, with, no doubt, hilarious consequences.

That's a very generic cover by John Byrne. I'm going to assume it was drawn before anyone knew what was going to be in the issue.

Regardless, this book contains major trouble for both Shellheads.

Not only does Rhodey have to battle the Beyonder-created Thundersword, Tony Stark has a new crisis on his hands when Bethany Cabe reappears - only to be kidnapped while she's on the phone to him!

Maybe it's me but I'm convinced this is the 85th time she's been kidnapped while on the phone to him. Why they let her anywhere near phones is beyond me.

August 9th, 1975 - 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. 

***

You can't accuse the British public of not being cosmopolitan. After all, this week in 1975, it fully embraced the genuine and authentic sound of the Caribbean by propelling Totally Tropical's Barbados to the very peak of the UK singles chart.

Over on the album rankings, things were as they had been the week before, with the Carpenters ruling the roost, thanks to their latest LP Horizon.

I must confess Barbados isn't one of my favourite reggae tracks of all time. However, tracks I did approve of on that week's chart included:

Give a Little Love - the Bay City Rollers

If You Think You Know how To Love Me - Smokie

Jive Talkin' - the Bee Gees

The Last Farewell - Roger Whittaker

Misty - Ray Stevens

Fame - David Bowie

That's the Way (I Like It) - KC and The Sunshine Band

and

I'm Not In Love - 10cc.

Should you wish to investigate the matter further, that week's UK singles chart can be found here.

While its accompanying LP chart dwells within.

As for me, it's August 1975!

I'm on holiday - in Blackpool!

Quatermass and Tarzan are on TV!

Comics by a brand new publisher called Atlas are everywhere!

Ray Stevens' cover of Misty is on the sound system in the big Woolworths by the Tower!

Spaceships of Ezekiel by Josef F Blumrich is for sale in the smaller Woolworths that's not by the Tower - and proving that it is possible to write a boring book about ancient astronauts!

Elsewhere, in the window of Ripleys' Believe It Or Not, a giant tap floats in mid-air, as an endless stream of water flows from it.

Those are delights enough for any man. What can even Marvel UK possibly hope to add to them?

Spider-Man's campaign against drug abuse continues.

But, because things are never easy for him, he also has to contend with the return of the Green Goblin!

Elsewhere, Iron Man succeeds in defeating Titanium Man and then guides Half-Face away from the path of Communist evil!

And I do believe that Thor somehow manages to defeat Galactus and convinces Ego to let a load of space refugees live on him.

Despite what's claimed on the cover blurb, I have a strong suspicion that, this week, Conan is, in fact, on his way to inadvertently encounter a big frog monster at some standing stones while the siege of Makkalet continues without him.

Meanwhile, someone's turning the Avengers Mansion defences against its inhabitants. Who can that someone be?

And just where has the Vision vanished to?

And why has Ultron just smashed his way up through the floorboards while claiming to be indestructible?

Meanwhile, after several weeks' absence, Shang-Chi's returned to this comic and is confronting Razor-Fist, the man with two huge blades where his hands should be. A set-up which does seem a trifle impractical when it comes to performing day-to-day tasks.

Thrills are piled upon spills when the Defenders travel to Rutland, Vermont, to prevent a cult from unleashing Dormammu upon our world!

After that, I think we may be getting the story in which the Jester "murders" himself and lumbers Daredevil with the blame for the death!

And I believe we reach the conclusion of the Fantastic Four's first encounter with Psycho-Man. Although - as far as I can remember - of that quartet, only the Thing and Human Torch show up for the fight.

Fortunately, the Black Panther and Inhumans are also on hand to help introduce the villain to the five knuckles of justice.

When Brent refuses to help the human mutants battle the apes, his captors use threats against Nova to make him cooperate. And now we get the reveal of just what those captors truly look like!

But the big news is that, The Day of the Triffids having been wrapped up, a brand new series is launched. One in which, sent to Earth to infiltrate humanity on behalf of his Kree masters, Marvel's Captain Marvel makes his space-hopping UK debut!

I remember reading this issue on a bench somewhere near Lewis's department store. As a child, I thought Lewis's department stores were owned by Jerry Lewis. Reader, to the shock of everyone, it turned out I was wrong.

Dracula's got his work cut out for him because he must put up with people firing wooden bullets at him, from a helicopter - and must brace himself for The Coming of Doctor Sun!

Jack Russell's got problems too because not only is his sister worried that she's also going to become a werewolf upon her eighteenth birthday, there are also schemes afoot from Baron Thunder who wants to set a stone monster on our hero.

And, now that Marvel have run out of Frankenstein stories, it's time for him to be replaced, in the comic, by the Living Mummy.

Quite what that character gets up to, this week, I'm not sure but I'm assuming we're going to get some sort of origin tale for him.

It's not just Planet of the Apes that's debuting a new strip, this week. So is The Super-Heroes - and it does so when Doc Savage shows up!

But, first, someone called Yarro Gort is helping to prop up a dictatorship but Shalla-Bal gets injured and the Surfer's forced to send her back to Zenn-La, without him.

Next, the aforementioned man of bronze encounters The Doom on Thunder Isle!

And the X-Men visit the Antarctic, for reasons I'm not totally sure about, where they encounter a man called Ka-Zar.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - August 1975.

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

***

August 1975 didn't see the release of a million films of note or distinction but it did witness the unleashing of Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Land That Time Forgot and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, all of which are memorable in their own sweet way.

As for which is best, I'm tempted to nominate The Land That Time Forgot as my Movie of the Month - purely because I'll watch anything that has monsters and Doug McClure in it - but I must confess that Picnic at Hanging Rock is clearly a classier film and has Neighbours' Mrs Mangel in it, and the presence of that icon alone is enough to make any film a classic in my books.

History is made, as Marvel's answer to Batman arrives and takes the chance to cause trouble when he's hired, by The Committee, to capture everyone's favourite werewolf!

We all like to see super-villains team up before turning against and betraying each other.

And, now, we've got the chance to see it every two months, as a brand new book arrives to set our spinner racks a-spin.

It looks like Subby has his work more than cut out for him when he has to deal with not only Dr Doom but also Attuma and Tiger Shark! Not to mention the diabolical Dr Dorcas!

And another new title hits our shelves, with the arrival of Skull the Slayer!

I'm not totally sure why we need another battler of dinosaurs, when the company already has Ka-Zar to fill that role but here he is.

In this phenomenal first issue, military type Jim Scully and friends get lost in the Bermuda Triangle and find themselves in a bizarre realm populated by prehistoric monsters and futuristic aliens.

At least, I think he does. That's how I remember it, anyway.

I can predict this book will run for a sensational eight issues.

Speaking of men fighting dinosaurs, everybody's favourite barbarian gets to do just that when he gets to show a T-rex who's boss, thanks to the Machiavellian malarkey of yet another sinister sorcerer. I think this may be the story that introduced me to the word, "ziggurat."

Not only that but we get a look at The Gods of the Hyborian Age, Part II: Crom and Mitra: Gods to Swear By.

Then, there's Lin Carter's The King Is Dead - Part IV of Chronicles of the Sword: An Informal History of Sword-and-Sorcery Fiction.

That's followed by Robert E Howard's cheery Lines Written in the Realization That I Must Die.

And we finish off with Roy Thomas' adaptation of REH's essay The Hyborian Age, Chapter 1: The Pre-Cataclysmic Age.

But, of course, the real reason for buying this issue is Boris Vallejo's never-to-be-forgotten cover.

It's a day out for Adam Warlock that we'll never forget, as he finds himself on a world populated entirely by clowns.

Clowns who bear a strange resemblance to our favourite comics creators, as Jim Starlin decides to bite the hand that needs him.

The Invaders get their very own mag and immediately start as they mean to go on, by smashing it to the Nazis.

To do that, they head for Berlin, in search of a villain called Brain Drain!

I do believe this is the first appearance of Marvel's Scarecrow.

I know little of the character and I know less of this story but I do know he likes to pop out of a painting and he does just that, this month, in order to battle an evil cult.

This, however, is the last issue of Dead of Night, which means he'll have to pop out of any future paintings somewhere else.

You've seen the film. You've read the books. Now experience the magazine when Marvel gives us its take on the Man of Bronze and entices us in with a Roger Kastel cover.

In this issue's 52-page main story, Doc and we encounter The Doom on Thunder Isle!

And There's a look at George Pal: The Man Who Shot Doc Savage!

Fifty years ago today - August 1975.

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

***

Here we are, once more looking at what Marvel Comics could throw at us, as a fabled decade passed its halfway point.

And, Reader, I can announce that one of this month's issues would prove to be a momentous moment in the history of the company. An event that would affect the future of Marvel and its universe for decades to come.

But can you guess which one it is before I get to it?

It's certainly not this issue.

Not unless the revelation of the Stranger's supremely disappointing secret - and how it links him to the Toad - is still haunting you after all these years.

But, hold on! What's this? There's no cowering blonde on the cover of a Conan comic!

How will my sanity survive such egregious omission?

More to the point, how will Conan survive an attack by the Brothers of the Blade?

In other news, Tara kills someone called Clawfoot!

I'm totally unfamiliar with the Alchemoid. All I do know is that, on that cover, he looks suspiciously like Marvel's version of Quasimodo.

However, the Grand Comics Database informs me the main villain of the piece is the Druid and that the Falcon wakes from a coma I didn't know he was in.

Unlike the Alchemoid, I am familiar with Copperhead but am struggling to remember too much about the actual story.

I do know, though, that this is the issue in which the Black Widow breaks up with our hero!

Bah! I like to think the Thing could easily flatten a mere tyrannosaurus, even with one hand tied behind his back.

In fact, I know he can. I remember that time when he decked just such a creature, with just one punch.

Sadly, this is another story I have scant knowledge of.

I do know, though, that it seems to involve an alternate dimension version of our favourite team.

After more than a decade, the Toad Men make their long-awaited return!

Admittedly, I was probably the only one long-awaiting it but I was always a great admirer of their work and still am.

It's also, as far as I can make out, the first appearance of Glorian and the overdue return of the Shaper of Worlds!

This one promises us The War of the Super-Villains which sounds exciting, as I was previously unaware of any such conflict.

It would seem this issue features the Mad Thinker, the Black Lama, the Yellow Claw and Firebrand. Therefore, I shall assume those are the villains who are involved in it.

And, from the cover, I shall assume the Mad Thinker is the ultimate victor.

The Tarantula's back and, if memory serves me correctly, working for the Jackal for reasons I struggle to recall.

Nope. No idea at all as to what happens in this one, other than to garner, from the cover, that Ulik and a big sea serpent are involved.

But, at last, we've reached it, the comic that signals a brave new direction for our favourite book about mutants - and one that will  see it go on to become Marvel's best-seller before reshaping the whole future destiny and direction of the company.

A new team of X-Men have arrived and, good God above, I even know what happens in it, as Count Nefaria takes over NORAD, giving him control of America's nukes!

Now, the randomly assembled group must tackle his gang of Ani-Men, in order to put a stop to his mad plans!

So much for what Marvel's up to.

But what of its main rival?

And I don't mean Atlas/Seaboard.

Just what was a random serving of DC comics that bore the same cover date up to?

It's up to this. The Fleisher/Aparo Spectre hits the end of its road!

And shall it do so in style?

I can't say, as I've not read this issue. But I do know that Jim Corrigan - having been restored to life, last issue - is gunned down by gangster Ducky McLaren. An act that turns our hero into the Spectre again.

And that means him wreaking his ghastly revenge upon the entire McLaren gang!

Elsewhere, the Seven Soldiers of Victory continue their quest for whatever it is they're on a quest to find. This time, the Crimson Avenger is in action, thanks to the words of Joe Samachson, and pencils of Mike Grell.

The Avenger is up against the Sky Walker.

And I don't mean Luke.

My memories of this one are a little vague, but I feel like there's a man with an invisible plane who's shaking skyscrapers to pieces, with his big gun.

Why he's doing this, I have no idea. I suppose that, even in the 1930s, a man has to have a hobby.

There's also a one-page Allan Asherman article that looks into the practicalities of making a Justice Inc movie.

DC have clearly decided readers can't possibly be content with having just one version of the Manhunter in this era. And, so, we get the return of the original when Jack Kirby revives him for the pages of 1st Issue Special.

Having said that, I'm only assuming he's the original Manhunter. For all I know, he might be a brand new one who just happens to look like the old one.

My knowledge of Korak being rudimentary, I have little knowledge of the contents of this one, but I do know the jungle-japing juvenile finds himself confronting the Gods of Destiny!

Following that, he finds himself caught up in The Deadly Motion Picture!

At last, a comic I actually know something about!

While practising zapping things, Lightning Lad accidentally reanimates a long-fallen soldier who can materialise any kind of weapon he needs. Now, the Legion must convince him his war is over, so he can properly, and finally, pass away as nature intended.

And, following that, we get the origin of Karate Kid when the crime fighter learns who killed his father.

I do believe our protagonist has a dramatic makeover in this one, as Mike Grell draws him looking exactly like Bruce Lee.

The Apocalyptic adolescent gets a giant-sized issue of his own, and does it by meeting gorilla commandos and a thing from outer space!

As the keen-eyed will have also spotted, we then encounter a look at the life of Jack Kirby, written by Steve Sherman.

And there's a reprint of Kamandi issue #1, for the benefit of those who missed that epic the first time round.