August 1st, 1979 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

This night in 1979 saw one of the oddest sporting clashes of all time, as BBC Two broadcast a football match between West Bromwich Albion and the People's Republic of China. As West Bromwich has a population of 78,000 and China is home to 1.4 billion people, this seems a somewhat unlikely fixture.

Admittedly, the game was in 1979 and the respective populations would have been different back then but I suspect that, even in 1979, West Bromwich didn't have a population the size of China's.

Anyway, West Bromwich Albion won 4-0. It's David and Goliath all over again.

But the big news is that, that morning, BBC One was broadcasting The Flashing Blade, a show I have spectacularly fond memories of, despite not being able to remember a thing about it. It's strange how you can love a show whose contents have totally faded from your consciousness.

I do recall there were Iberians in it and horses but that's about the limit of my recollection. Apparently, in today's episode, the Spanish commander holds the Duke responsible for Recci's escape.

I don't know what any of it means but it sounds like the Duke's in trouble.

Speaking of trouble, it looks like we're back in that cantina and it's no friendlier than it was the first time we entered it.

I wonder if the band have learnt a new song yet, or if they're still playing the same tune over and over again.

Elsewhere this issue, the Guardians of the Galaxy are up against that big space frog that eats planets at a voracious rate.

Warlock finds himself in a tale that introduces us to Constable Trueheart.

I say that but I don't have a clue who Constable Trueheart is.

This week's tale of the Watcher informs us of a world whose nearest neighbour is a prison planet - a prison planet which turns out to be Earth!

The Hulk's still fighting Diablo the smoke Monster but, no sooner has he sorted him out than he has to deal with Taboo the mud monster.

The Black Knight's gone into some magical kingdom or other to try and bring Captain Britain back from the dead.

Ant-Man and the Wasp complete their first mission together, thanks to getting ants to do all the work for them. I'm pleased to report that neither character comes across as being particularly sane in this tale.

Meanwhile, the Reject's still on the rampage in the Deviants' underwater city.

In the pages of What If?, cured of being the Hulk, Rick Jones teams up with Captain America, then stumbles across those pesky nega-bands that can only mean nothing but trouble.

And I do believe Nick Fury's still tripping on hallucinogens.

Here it is, the start of a brand new era for Marvel UK, as we get the birth of the catchily titled Spectacular Spider-Man Weekly and Marvel Comic. Not only is it a new title but it gives us a walloping nine strips. It's madness! Madness!

In the main strip, Carrion's on the rampage in the ESU library and out to kill Peter Parker, having already clobbered Hector Ayala.

And Reed Richards is on the rampage in Latveria. His powers restored, thanks to Dr Doom launching him into space, Reed launches a one-man attack on that villain's kingdom.

I know little of this issue but have no doubt Conan, Red Sonja and Solomon Kane are all up to the sort of thing they're always up to.

I'm pretty sure Jewels of Gwahlur is a Robert E Howard tale and that I've read it. I struggle, however, to recall anything about it.

I know the Red Sonja tales have now reached the Frank Thorne era.

I remember this one!

Or at least I remember the X-Men tale. It's that one where the demonic Kierrok's unleashed when Cyclops blows the lid off an obelisk, in a fit of temper over Thunderbird dying.

I do believe this is the tale in which we first learn that Storm has claustrophobia.

I also think it's the tale that introduces us to the X-Men's new housekeeper Moira Mac Taggert, and her machine gun.

As for Dr Strange, I don't have a clue who Xander the Merciless is. I have Googled him. He seems to look a bit like Omega the Unknown.

Britain's greatest sci-fi mag looks at probably my least favourite Bond movie - Moonraker. A film so bad that I can't even remember its theme tune.

We also get a look at The Spaceman and King Arthur, which was released in some territories as Unidentified Flying Oddball. I can't help feeling they were right to dump that title.

2000 AD - June 1981.

Have you ever found yourself being chased down a tunnel by a big ball of rock?

If so, June 1981 was a Godsend because you suddenly had the comfort of knowing you weren't alone in the universe.

That's right. It was the month in which movie history was made and Raiders of the Lost Ark hit the big screen.

Never before had archaeology seemed so exciting. And never again would it seem so exciting - not even when watching Channel Four's Time Team dig up yet another rusty Bronze Age pin in a muddy ditch in Shropshire, while Tony Robinson tries to pretend it's a great find.

Come to think  of it, the big ball of rock was in the second Indiana Jones film, wasn't it? So you were going to have to wait a couple more years yet before finally encountering a kindred spirit.

Still, if a daring archaeologist could offer you no relief, you could at least take comfort in the adventures of dandy highwaymen because the UK singles chart, that month, kicked off with Adam and the Ants' Stand and Deliver at Number One.

However, that was quickly deposed by Smokey Robinson's Being With You which was, in turn, dislodged by Michael Jackson's One Day in Your Life.

Over on the album chart, Starsound started the month at Number One with Stars on 45 but were soon removed by Motorhead's No Sleep 'til Hammersmith which was then usurped by Various Artists' Disco Daze and Disco Nites. It is hard to think of a bigger contrast than the one between Starsound and Motorhead.

When it came to sport, it was the month in which Shergar won the Epsom Derby and the first ever game of paintball was played, in New Hampshire.

"Well, that's all very well," I hear you cry, "But what of 2000 AD and its sci-fi happenings that I so love to hear about?"

I'm glad you asked.

Well, I'm not really because, as always, I have less of a clue than Jessica Fletcher has when suddenly finding herself in a town where no murders have been committed.

However, this is what I can share.

Clearly determined to give us maximum value for our 15 pence, the Galaxy's Greatest Comic was still feeding us Strontium Dog, Tharg's Future Shocks, The Mean Arena, Judge Dredd, Meltdown Man and Return to Armageddon. It's strange how Marvel UK giving us six strips in each weekly book felt like sacrilege, while 2000 AD doing the same was never a problem. I suppose it's just a question of context.

But it's an exciting day for me because, thanks to Prog 217, we've finally reached a Tharg's Future Shock I actually remember.

I'm pretty sure The Last Rumble of the Platinum Horde is the tale in which an army of Mongols from space set out to destroy everything in their path but fail to take into account that the Universe is round, and end up destroying their own planet, not realising they're back where they started from.

I like to think there's a lesson in there for all of us.

July 25th, 1979 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

This week in 1979 was a grim one indeed for readers who'd been with Marvel UK since the venture's launch, because it saw the demise of not one but two of its stalwart titles.

Which were those titles?

We'll find out in a moment but what else was going on around that time?

The Boomtown Rats were going on around that time. Their single I Don't Like Mondays hit the UK's Number One spot, giving them their second and final British Number One, with Bob Geldof's take on that year's Grover Cleveland Elementary School shooting.

Elsewhere, just a week after Chicago's Disco Demolition Night, the dance-orientated genre fought back by claiming the Number One spot on the UK album chart, thanks to The Best Disco Album in the World. Not only that but the art form hit its commercial peak in America by claiming the top six spots on that week's Billboard singles chart. Clearly, Disco was going to be around forever.

Unlike two particular comics.

One of those comics was not Star Wars Weekly. After all, nothing with the words, "Star Wars," on it was going to fail at that time and, so, Marvel UK's one remaining glossy-covered weekly carries right on, without a care in the world.

I haven't the slightest idea what happens in this issue, other than that Banthas are involved but I do note the Guardians of the Galaxy are back, presumably at the expense of the Micronauts.

From memory, I'm assuming we're launching into the Starhawk saga, as I remember reading it in the pages of Star Wars Weekly.

I could, of course, be totally wrong about that.

It's the start of the Sal Buscema drawn tale in which our favourite Gamma victim comes up against a whole host of Silver Age monsters conjured up by Xemnu.

Elsewhere, it's all gone mad, as Ant-Man turns Janet van Dyne into the Wasp, in order to avenge the murder of her father by a being from another world.

There is, of course, nothing abnormal about having a formula for turning people into human wasps in your lab and a wasp costume in your wardrobe, just in case a replica of your dead wife might turn up and need it.

It's bad news for all patriots, as the ever-useless Captain Britain's killed by a reanimated corpse posing as Death.

Meanwhile, the Reject's having a fight to the finish with Karkas and any other Deviant who gets in his way.

Nick Fury's on hallucinogens and the Watcher's still asking, "What if Rick Jones had become the Hulk, Daddy-O?"

But this is it, the end of an era. After nearly seven years, Marvel UK's flagship title - the one that launched the company on its way - kicks the bucket.

It'll be back later but, for now, it's as dead as a dodo.

As for the contents, I do believe DD's about to come up against Copperhead, while, the X-Men have been captured by Magneto in the tale in which the Angel first encounters Red Raven.

How ironic that the last issue of what was once Mighty World of Marvel should reprint one of the very first Marvel stories I ever read.

And it's the last issue of Marvel UK's second oldest book, despite it being billed as, "Britain's No. 1 Superhero Comic!" It doesn't suggest a very rosy future for the others if the Number One can't even survive.

Granted, it's not really doomed. It's just about to be relaunched under a different title, which isn't the first time it's been on the receiving end of such a fate.

Anyway, after what's seemed like an eternity, Spidey and Daredevil finally get to beat the Masked Marauder and his plan to terrorise New York City with his big metal bird.

But, judging by that cover, it looks like our hero now has even bigger things to worry about.

Marvel Comics' Frankenstein Monster #15.

Mere weeks ago, I looked at that legendary day when Frankenstein's Monster, "teamed up," with the Phantom Stranger to tackle a pair of naughty demons who'd got out of control in a house that didn't belong to them.

But so awesome is Frankenstein's Monster that he can't be contained by one comic.

In fact, he's so awesome, he can't even be contained by one comics company and, so, just as, in the 1970s, DC gave us his adventures, Marvel did likewise.

But how did the Marvel version compare to the DC one? And who was best?

It's the present day and the creature's hanging around with a former gang member called Ralph Caccone and a private detective called Eric Prawn, the latter of which, we're told, sees himself as the new Sherlock Holmes.

Sadly for the trio, things are not currently elementary, because a man called Cardinal's just appeared with his henchman Zandor, looking to abduct the comic's star.

Frankie's clearly perfectly capable of sorting out the situation and is happily killing Zandor when Cardinal tells him that, if he doesn't cooperate, Ralph'll be shot.

Clearly, he's a monster with a conscience because he decides to go along with Cardinal's demands and he and Ralph are taken to a secret lab where it's revealed an organisation called ICON wants to create an army of resuscitated corpses.

The only problem is that the corpses ICON reanimates are almost totally mindless. Therefore, the organisation needs the secret of Frankie's intelligence and, to get that, it's going to have to remove his brain.

But, wouldn't you know it, before Cardinal gets the chance to do the deed, a man-pig mutant-thing bursts in, looking for revenge for its last encounter with Frankie.

Needless to say, it doesn't get that revenge and our hero gives it the good smacking it's asking for.

And that's it. The lab's been trashed, the bad guys have fled, the man-pig mutant-thing's been disposed of in the river and everything's done and dusted.

Except it's not.

Because that's when Prawn points his gun at the creature and Ralph and informs them they're going to Switzerland with him, whether they like it or not.

To be continued!

The truth is I can't properly compare Marvel's version of the monster to DC's because I've only read two tales featuring DC's version and, in each of those two tales, it felt like a different character from the other one. In Phantom Stranger #26's team-up, it was a primal force, driven by lust for vengeance, while, in Phantom Stranger #28's back-up strip, it was a pathetic wretch, blundering around feebly, only wanting to be left alone.

What is obvious is this tale has a far more contemporary and sci-fi feel than either of those DC stories, with the central character being a far more enigmatic creature.

It's also a much more inert creature, only acting when put in a position where it has no choice. The version in the Phantom Stranger crossover was a far more driven character. It was also, therefore, a much more dangerous one. You get the feeling that if you threatened to kill Ralph to get its cooperation, it'd just kill Ralph for you and save you the trouble. On the other hand, the version in Phantom Stranger #28 would have fallen into helpless despair and anguish.

So, I'm going to have to declare Marvel's version to be far less interesting and compelling than the Phantom Stranger #26 version but far more impressive than the Phantom Stranger #28 version.

Overall, with its secret organisations, schemes and plotting, this feels very like the Werewolf by Night and Man-Wolf stories Marvel were doing at the time, where other characters drove the story along, while the central character was basically just being present as bigger stories were being acted out around it. Obviously, as those strips were also produced by Marvel, that shouldn't be a surprise.

It's not what could be called an outstanding issue, feeling very much like a prelude to more significant events but it's perfectly readable and Val Mayerik's art does its job, with noticeable similarities to the work of Neal Adams, in places. As Mayerik's art's never struck me as being at all Adamsesque elsewhere, I can only put it down to Klaus Janson's inks.

But that's not all this issue has in store for us because it also includes a back-up strip of its very own.

It's a, clearly, ancient tale about a stage magician who, when he's fired because the audience has a tendency to boo his act, decides to get even with his former manager by setting his shadow on him.

Like all vengeance-driven magicians in such tales, this one's a total wally and quickly becomes the architect of his own downfall.

It's a somewhat insubstantial tale and is clearly only there because the main strip's come in short. It will not, I suspect, live long in the memory of anyone who reads it.

July 18th, 1979 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

At a pinch, how long do you reckon it'd take you to run a mile?

I don't like to boast but I figure that, with the right wind behind me, I could do it in not much more than a day and a half.

However, in this week of 1979, there was a man running it even faster than that.

That man was Sebastian Coe who set a new world record for the distance by completing it in 3 minutes, 48.95 seconds. It was part of blitz that saw him break all three middle distance world records in just 41 days and become the first man to hold them all simultaneously.

But what about that other great athletic activity - dancing? It was the week when Chicago's Disco Demolition Night publicity stunt went horribly amok at Comiskey Park, forcing the White Sox to forfeit their game against the Detroit Tigers, thanks to damage done to the field by an explosion and rioting fans. That is what happens when you arouse the wrath of Disco.

And if the world thought it was all up for the art form, it thought too soon because, in Britain, while Replicas by Gary Numan and Tubeway Army had just clinched the Number One spot on the LP chart, just behind it, at Number Two, was the album which bore the title The Best Disco Album in the World. I just hope Disco Duck was on it or there was no way it deserved to call itself that.

Baron Tagge's out for revenge against Darth Vader for blinding him - and it somehow involves Tattooine. And that means it involves Luke Skywalker.

Meanwhile, Adam Warlock's about to wrap up his battle with the Star-Thief and it's in this very issue that he discovers he's now bigger than the solar system which spawned him.

The Hulk and his mutant friends finally bring justice to the mad scientist who's to blame for them all being there.

After months of being a totally pointless addition to the Black Knight's strip, Captain Britain finally gets to do something when he comes up against the physical incarnation of death and his lovely horsie.

Speaking of death, it's a historic day for Ant-Man when he encounters Janet van Dyne for the first time and keeps remarking on how much she resembles his dead wife. I'm not sure that's going to turn out to be the healthiest relationship. Also, she's a schoolgirl.

Elsewhere, Ikaris pays a visit to the pseudo-Greek gods of the Eternals' universe.

Night-Raven finally polishes off the Tongs.

And the Watcher asks, "What if Rick Jones had become the Hulk?" I'm not massively up on the world of modern comics but hasn't Rick Jones since gone on to do exactly that?

Anyway, in this version of events, Rickhulk has the temper of the original Hulk but speaks entirely in Stan Lee style teen-speak, chiding Thunderbolt Ross's army for being square cats and, like, totally Nowheresville, man.

I don't know what else happens in this issue but I do know Ms Marvel's having her second encounter with the Scorpion, on top of trying to find out why she keeps having blackouts.

Meanwhile, at the behest of AIM, mad scientist the Destructor's out to succeed where the Scorpion's so obviously failing.

Daredevil tackles the Masked Marauder and his men while Spidey, still blind, battles to prevent the Marauder's Bombdroid visiting mayhem upon New York.

For anyone having trouble imagining what a bombdroid looks like, it's basically a big, metal, flying bird.

Forty years ago today - July 1979.

I have to think of a pertinent and pithy intro to this post.

I can't think of one.

I shall, therefore, launch straight into it and hope that if I don't draw attention to it no one'll notice.

This is it; the issue some of us have been waiting about fifty issues for, as Bêlit finally meets her maker, thanks to an island full of flying monkeys.

From what I can remember, most of the important stuff in this tale happens while Conan's asleep but our heroine does return from the dead for long enough to help the battling barbarian as he faces certain death at the fangs of a psychotic simian.

But the highlight of this tale is definitely Conan single-handedly taking on a huge pack of hyenas and winning.

Cap and Daredevil are still out to thwart Dr Faustus' evil plan to Nazify America.

Lost in space, alone against the Skrulls, their ship blown up by Nova's, and also zapped by an ageing ray; just when it seemed things couldn't get any worse for the FF, the Sphinx becomes all-powerful and decides he doesn't want to commit suicide anymore.

He just wants to rule the universe.

Peter Parker's back at college and it looks like the Lizard's on the loose.

But he isn't. It's Curt Connors' pet iguana that's somehow turned into a super-villain. How will Spidey ever be able to defeat a foe with the powers of an iguana?

To be honest, I don't know what powers an iguana has.

Thor meets Karkas and, after the obligatory fight, they set off to find Sersi in the hidden lair of the Deviants, somewhere beneath New York City.

Arcade's kidnapped the X-Men and is exposing them to the sort of gimmicks he once used against Spider-Man and Captain Britain.

As those gimmicks didn't work against Spider-Man and Captain Britain, I'm not sure why he thinks they're going to work against a whole team of super-doers.

Then again, he does have help from Colossus who he's brainwashed into wanting to kill his colleagues.

The Hulk's still fighting Machine Man, in an attempt to rescue someone from someone or other.

Wanda and Pietro are out to discover just where they came from, and find themselves in the shadow of Mount Wundagore, under attack from an unknown foe, as a talking cow shows up to help them.

Bullseye's out for revenge on the man without fear and is filming him fighting other criminals, in order to learn his moves.

Spider-Man meets Catwoman the Black Cat for the first time and much flirting ensues in between the fighting.

Now he's in trouble.

Iron Man accidentally kills a visiting politician, with his repulsor rays, thanks to Peter Cushing having set them off by remote control.

July 11th, 1979 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

What were you doing on this night of forty years ago?

If you had any sense, you were watching the skies because it was the night NASA's Skylab decided to begin its less-than-graceful return to Earth.

I still remember the genuine concern we all had that we might wake up, the next morning, with a space station parked on our heads.

But, of course, if we really had sense, we'd also be watching TV because, on that selfsame evening, BBC Two broadcast Seven Artists First. In this week's thrill-packed edition, the show was looking at Roy Lichtenstein, arch swiper of the work of comic book artists galore and, therefore, a figure of some controversy wherever graphic narrative is loved.

Speaking of places where graphic narrative is loved...

I have even less idea what goes on this issue than I usually do.

I do note that Warlock and the Watcher are still working their magic for us all. Presumably, the Micronauts are doing likewise.

As for Baron Tagge, it seems there are two Baron Tagges in the Star Wars universe. Judging by his shades, this one is Orman Tagge who was blinded by Darth Vader and, therefore, wears cyber-vision glasses, so he doesn't bump into things.

Right now, it looks like Leia's more pressing concern is his tendency to bump off things, rather than bump into them.

Hooray! The Hulk's mutant hordes break loose!

There's a phrase guaranteed to put you at ease.

The green Goliath's still on the island of the would-be Moreau and planning to use the scientist's own creations against him.

Ant-Man finally stops the menace of the pensioner with the ageing ray.

In fairness, he doesn't really stop him. The old duffer accidentally drops his ageing gun and a member of the public uses it to return everyone, including Ant-Man, to their normal ages, meaning Ant-Man's contribution to the tale is basically nothing.

Elsewhere, the Black Knight's still dithering about, getting nowhere in his quest to do whatever it is he's trying to.

Nick Fury's still out to thwart the Yellow Claw.

Night-Raven's out to thwart a tiger that's been unleashed by the Tongs he's pursuing.

In their home city beneath the sea, the Deviants have unleashed the full fury of Karkas.

In New York, Reed Richards, Bruce Banner and Professor X finally see off the threat of Galactus - thanks to the power of What If? - but at what cost?

His US comic may have bitten the dust but, in the UK, the only thing Godzilla's biting is Red Ronin, a giant robot operated by a child who's doing his level best to prevent his foe getting hurt.

Sadly, for that boy, the rampaging reptile doesn't share his reservations about destroying opponents.

This is an odd one. We get a reprint of  Spider-Man's first-ever meeting with Medusa, in the 1968 John Romita/Don Heck drawn tale where the tonsorial terror gets hired to promote hair spray.

I can only assume the presence of such an elderly tale is down to a shortage of new material to reprint, thanks to the strip having basically caught up with the US mags.