Fifty years ago today - June 1973.

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

***

It's time to tangle with the forces of time and see just what the past has to offer us rIght now.

Hooray! The Lion-God shows up!

Forget the likes of Thor and Odin. If I was going to be a god, this is the kind of god I'd want to be.

Then again, as far as I can remember, Mantis defeats him by dazzling him with her dancing skills, allowing him to be punched in the bracket, which suggests he's not the brightest deity in the pantheon.

I've never read this issue and don't have a clue what happens in it.

I'm, therefore, going to predict there's a sorcerer, treasure, magic, and a wench in need of rescuing. The word, "Crom!" will be uttered at some point and Conan may be out to steal something.

I do know for a fact that Gil Kane's back on the artwork.

And that it appears to feature the first appearance of Khitai.

Oh God, he's at it again. Cap's doubting his sanity once more!

Expect plenty of mithering about Bucky and World War Two.

I'm also going to predict there'll be a recap of his origin. Steve Rogers is, after all, the man who put the Cap into recap.

Also, expect Dr Faustus to show up because his presence is the one thing I know for certain about the contents of this yarn.

DD hits the big ton and does it in style by returning to San Francisco and granting an impromptu interview to Rolling Stone magazine.

Meanwhile, the world goes mad when Angar the Screamer makes his literally senses-shattering debut.

Looking at the cover, I don't have a clue what's going on in this one.

All I know is it features the return of Gregory Gideon and Dragon Man. So, it clearly has plenty occurring.

Are there no depths the Hulk won't sink to?

Well, in this one, he sinks to the depths of the ocean and encounters the not-at-all-Nemo-like Captain Omen!

Needless to say, it's not long before our hero's spearheading a rebellion against the submersible scoundrel's autocratic rule.

Looks like Iron Man's about to find himself in a grave situation.

Firebrand shows up. That's all I know about this issue.

This is it! The big one! Spidey's back from Canada, and the Green Goblin's back from amnesia. That means one of Spidey's closest friends is about to die!

But who can it be?

Who?

Looking at that cover, my money's on Randy Robertson.

Here it comes. One of my least favourite Thor tales of the era. It's always been hard for me to accept that the whole of Asgard, including Odin, could be captured by a bunch of ants with ray guns.

But it's happened! And Thor has to put it right!

For that matter, ants with ray guns don't even feel like they belong in the same universe as Asgard.

I've genuinely not the slightest what happens in this issue but it's clear Tyrannus is back.

And he's got a huge robot on his side!

I hope it has a happier ending than Mogol did.

That's Marvel's big hitters wrapped up.

But what about a random sampling of DC comics that happen to bear the same cover date?

Hooray! I had this one!

Those are words you'll be seeing a lot in the rest of this post.

Ghosts #15 hits us with The Ghost That Wouldn't Die, A Phantom in the Alamo, Who Dares Cheat the Dead? and Hand from the Grave, brought to us by the pencils of Buddy Gernale, Sam Glanzman, Alfredo Alcala and Rico Rival.

And, remember, every single one of those tales is true.

Hooray! I had this one too! In fact, it might be the first issue of Kamandi I ever read.

Kamandi and Flower are captured by Sultin and his fellow lions and taken to a wildlife sanctuary.

However, it's not all good news because two naughty pumas try to kill Flower!

The Justice League gets one hundred pages of action, mostly involving a queen bee and the Injustice Society of the World.

However, in sensational solo spills, the Sandman must protect a  scientist who's discovered a way to extract magnesium from the sea. Heaven only knows what his sister Death will make of it all.

And, finally, the JLA fights the Royal Flush Gang.

Hooray! I had this one!

As far as I can remember, Supergirl loses her powers, then finds herself in an alien dimension ruled by Satan's brother.

Fortunately, she soon motivates the locals to rise up and overthrow him.

And, of course, along the way, she gets her powers back.

Hooray! I had this one too!

In our main tale, Smallville's in trouble when a local radio station uses its Rock and Roll broadcasts to generate thunderballs that are wrecking the town.

Fortunately, Superboy and his blind friend - who might be called Don Blake - are on hand to thwart them.

But, of course, what really matters is the back-up tale in which ERG-1 auditions to join the Legion of Super-Heroes but is rejected by them until he reveals his greatest power of them all.

Sadly, it's a power whose only ever use causes his death.

This means we've endured the demise of Gwen Stacy and ERG-1 in the same month. I feel like we're going to need psycho-therapy after all this.

No, I never had this one. In fact, up until now, I didn't even know of its existence.

Regardless, inside, as thousands of people flock to the opening of brand-new theme park Superman Land, Lex Luthor sets up a Kryptonite trap for our hero.

We also discover how a comic book's created.

We also get the origin of Superman, as drawn by Carmine Infantino, a text article about Metropolis. a rogue's gallery and a whole lot more, crammed into just 68 pages.

June 2nd, 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. 

***

Quiver, humans. For, a new month is upon us. Let us see what its first week has to offer.

In our first Hulk yarn, finding Gamma Base deserted, the Hulk heads for New York City, in search of the Avengers. This is while Rick Jones is hired to drive a car for a mysterious stranger who tells him he must never look in its trunk.

Our second Hulk tale involves Thunderbolt Ross launching the new Orion missile. Hulky-Baby intercepts it but reverts to Bruce Banner before he can stop it.

And, in the Fantastic Four's tale, Doctor Doom's still causing trouble, thanks to his abduction of Alicia.

My main memory of encountering this issue, as a kid, is of misreading the cover blurb as saying the FF are up against a Doom Shirt. It's always been a massive disappointment to me that they aren't.

Watch out, New York because a brand new team of super-villains is in town!

Granted, it's not that new. As far as I can make out, this is the one in which the Circus of Crime decides to ditch the Ringmaster and rebrand itself as the Masters of Menace.

Once renamed, it plans an art heist.

And, needless to say, it doesn't do any better without the brains of the outfit than it did with him.

Elsewhere, Thor must face his deadliest threat yet, as, while visiting India, Don Blake discovers one of his old teachers has been murdered by a man with the power of a snake!

How can even a nigh-omnipotent god hope to prevail against a foe who has the awesome power of crawling around on his stomach?

Speak Your Brain! Part 54. Back-to-Back artists.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

Even as I type these words, another month is about to end and a new one begin, reminding us there's just one thing in this world that never changes. And that's the fact the world always changes.

But hold your horses, Father Time, because there's one other thing in this world that never changes.

And that's the feature the internet has grown to love and fear in equal measure.

It's the one in which you the Reader get to decide what we're talking about. Many are the things that have happened in the past month and many more are the things that have happened in the past year.

Then again it may be things that have happened in your early lifetime - or before your lifetime or even down in the darkest depths of prehistory - that tickle your fancy.

And what of the far-flung future? That place that Sarah Connor knows it's best to avoid? Who knows what miracles, myths and monstrosities it may unfurl before our very eyes?

Whatever or whenever it is or was or will be, that you wish to discuss, all you have to do is mention it in the comments section below and a veritable tidal wave of talk will, doubtless, be unleashed.

Detective Comics #443 - Manhunter Meets Batman!

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

***

Everyone knows the greatest comic ever created is Detective Comics #443.

Admittedly, I say that without ever having read it.

But who needs to read it? It's got Batman. It's got Manhunter. The cover's by Jim Aparo. The insides are by Walt Simonson. It's a 100-page comic and its lead tale is blessed with the title Gotterdammerung!

There's no more chance of it not being the greatest comic of all time than there is of a Red Nails adaptation by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith not being the greatest comic of all time.

Admittedly, if the tale's author Archie Goodwin had titled it Batterdammerung, it would have been even better but I can only conclude the man lacked my remarkable taste and good judgement.

So, now that we know it's the greatest comic of all time, without even having read it, how does it stand up when one actually does read it?

In the wet streets of Gotham, a man has died.

That man is Dan Kingdom - private eye, master of the martial arts and friend of Batman - assassinated before he could tell the dark detective something about the prime minister of a land called Congola.

Fortunately, Bruce Wayne is, that very night, hosting a party for that very prime minister, giving his alter-ego the perfect chance to find out just why Kingdom was killed and what beans he was about to spill about whom.

Not so fortunately, the party's barely begun when the prime minister's assassinated too. It's starting to look like Batman's a straight-out jinx.

Unconcerned about that, our hero leaps into action and goes in pursuit of the killer but, before he can make him talk, is attacked by a mystery villain called The Enforcer who promptly decks him.

The Enforcer flees but Batman tracks him and the assassin to Nairobi where he encounters Paul Kirk - the Manhunter - who's planning a final and decisive attack on the secret HQ of the deadly Council who resurrected him from his death in World War Two and now plan to take over the world.

Not liking the sound of that kind of thing, Batman offers to help Kirk and his friends but is spurned by them because of his reluctance to kill. Batman takes it in good spirits and says that, in that case, he's headed off back to Gotham.

So, Kirk and his friends  Asano Nitobe, Christine St Clair and Kolu Mbeya set off to the Australian outback where the Council are currently keeping their headquarters.

On the plane there, we get a recap of how Kirk was resurrected by the Council, after dying in World War Two and now feels like a man out of time, giving us an impression of him as a dark Captain America.

But no sooner do they reach that secret HQ than it turns out Batman was fibbing and, by means not at all explained, has got to to the scene first and has already taken out two of the council's killers, convincing Kirk he might be of some use after all.

Thus it is that Batman fights the returning Enforcer while Kirk goes off in pursuit of Dr Myrkros, the coordinator behind the Council's schemes.

It's during this fight that we discover The Enforcer is none other than the supposed assassination victim Dan Kingdom and that the body found in Gotham was merely a clone of him, created by the Council!

Elsewhere, Kirk confronts Myrkros who's got himself a psionic helmet and uses it to blast the hero with deadly radiation. Thus, does Paul Kirk die a second time.

Or does he?

Realising it's all gone belly-up, Batman leads Kirk's friends away from the base and steals a plane in which they escape.

But, as that plane flees, a nuclear explosion erupts behind it, letting its passengers know that Kirk didn't die from the psionic attack but achieved one final resurrection before, at last, succeeding in destroying the base, Mykros and his Council all in one go. At last, the man who should have died decades ago can know peace.

It has to be said it's a very simple and straightforward tale that goes from plot point to plot point in the most linear and obstacle-free fashion possible but it wraps up the Manhunter saga efficiently enough and looks pretty as it goes about it.

Perhaps its main weakness is that, being designated a Batman tale, Bruce Wayne's alter-ego seems far more competent than Paul Kirk, managing to find the Council's base before Kirk and his friends do and defeating The Enforcer who seems to be too much for Kirk to handle. This is unfortunate, as the thrust of the tale is to wrap up the Manhunter saga and should, you'd have thought, therefore, centre around Kirk and his friends.

Come to think of it, strictly speaking, Batman could have been totally written out of the tale without any need for the central plot to be changed.

Oh well. Who cares? It's drawn with style and, as I've said, the cover's by Jim Aparo. The insides are by Walt Simonson. It's a 100-page comic and its lead tale's blessed with the title Gotterdammerung. If that doesn't keep a human being happy, what will?

May 26th, 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. 

***

A video I recently watched on YouTube argued that time isn't real and that past, present and future all exist simultaneously. In which case, let's look at what's happening, right now, in 1973.

In our first Hulk tale of this issue, Hulkie-Baby must do battle with the awesome might of the Boomerang - who's out to steal a thing called the Orion Missile, on behalf of the Secret Empire.

And, in the second Hulk tale of this issue, Hulkie-Baby must do battle with the awesome might of the Boomerang - who's out to steal a thing called the Orion Missile, on behalf of the Secret Empire.

Well, if an idea's good, use it twice. That's what I always say.

Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four are back home, after being rescued from a microscopic realm, by Ant-Man - only to discover Dr Doom's kidnapped Alicia!

The Grand Comics Database tells me that page 11 changes John F Kennedy to Richard Nixon, while page 12 removes all reference to the Iron Curtain and replaces Nikita Khrushchev with a generic dictator.

Spidey and the Human Torch have their habitual squabble before uniting to deal with the rubbery fingers of the Beetle. The villain, you see, is out for revenge, following a prior defeat at the hands of the flaming one.

Thor, meanwhile, is having problems with the lethal Lava Man, a foul fiend who's been released from the depths of the Earth, by the malevolent machinations of Loki. No sooner does the menace reach the surface than he claims ownership of the entire planet.

Speak Your Brain! Part 53. Five objects that had a powerful influence on your childhood.

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 time, once more, to slap some democracy on the table.

And we all know what that means.

We're going to need a stronger table.

Not only that. We're going to need an active comments section.

You guessed it. It's the short-awaited return of the feature in which the first person to comment gets to decide the topic of the day.

And what will that topic be?

That is a thing that only you can decide.

So, whatever it is you want everyone else to get off their chests, say so below and let us see what kind of a vortex of vox pop unfolds.

May 1983 - Marvel UK monthlies, 40 years ago this month.

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

***

Every so often, a long-established publication falls for a hoax.

Off the top of my head, I'm struggling to think of any.

However, one that I can definitely recall is The Hitler Diaries, that detailed insight into the mind of one of the 20th Century's worst painters.

Those diaries first hit the headlines in May 1983 when German magazine Stern published them. Needless to say, they caused quite the kerfuffle before being exposed for the total cobblers they were.

Definitely not total cobblers, that month, were Aberdeen FC. That's because they achieved the near-astonishing feat of defeating the mighty Real Madrid 2–1 and, in doing so, won the European Cup Winners' Cup, becoming only the third Scottish side to pick up a European trophy.

Winners were also present on the UK singles chart. May threw its doors open to the public with Spandau Ballet's True at Number One. That was then replaced by New Edition's Candy Girl which was, in turn, dislodged by the Police's tribute to stalking Every Breath You Take.

Over on the British album chart, triumph initially paid a visit to David Bowie who topped the listing with his Let's Dance LP. That then had to make way for Spandau Ballet's True which was then crushed beneath the wheels of the juggernaut that was Michael Jackson's Thriller.

The nation's favourite sci-fi mag returns, to take a look at Xtro, Island at the Top of the World and Tenebrae. And it chats with Evil Dead director Sam Raimi.

All this and much much more for just 95 pence of your Earth money.

Judging by that cover, it would seem our gang are facing a terrible Death in the City of Bone which is certainly a title to be reckoned with.

Elsewhere, Indiana Jones is up to something or other. Bones are probably involved in that one, as well. But, whatever Indy's fate, I can almost guarantee an ancient artefact will be involved.

This month, we're blessed with a tale called For the Throne of Zamboula in which Conan is captured and tortured by Zafra the wizard. Once he escapes, our hero then finds himself in the middle of a revolution!

For those who like their slaughter in large doses, we also get another installment of the text article the world knows as A Study of Warfare in Conan's World.

I don't know much about the contents of this issue but its cover boasts that it features 40 star-packed pages. So, it must be good!

I do know, though, that we get the concluding part of the picture strip Target Practice.

Things are changing in our fave TV show, as world's oldest schoolboy and vaguely treacherous companion Turlough joins the cast. Thus it is that we get an interview with Mark Strickson, the actor who plays him.

We also get a chat with producer John Nathan-Turner but I suppose we all took that for granted. John never seemed to encounter an interview he didn't want to do.

But what's this? A retrospective on Snakedance, one of my favourite Fifth Doctor adventures? Who could say no to that?

It's a sad day for all comics fans, as Marvel Superheroes hits its last issue. Can it be true? Can a comic starring the X-Men and Avengers really not survive in the UK comics market of 1983?

However, it goes out in style, as Wolverine and Nightcrawler find themselves in Canada and up against the nightmare menace of the Wendigo.

In their strip, I do believe the Avengers are clearing up after their encounter with Marcus and Immortus.

And, following that, we also get to see Jarvis the butler in eight pages of sensational solo action!

Just when he was hoping for a quiet life, four interdimensional beings invade Braddock Manor and abduct Captain Britain who they want to testify on behalf of Saturnyne in her upcoming trial.

Elsewhere, Alan Moore gives us his thoughts on sexism in comics.

He then gives us a three-page article on the links between music and comics.

And then he reviews some fanzines.

Egads! Is there no stopping the man?

There's certainly no stopping Ben Urich who confronts the hospitalised Daredevil, with knowledge of his origin and true identity...

Somewhat oddly, we round off the issue with a picture strip called Star Death, reprinted, seemingly randomly, from the pages of Doctor Who Monthly.