December 8th 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 held bad news for you if you were a fan of driving fast, because the speed limit on UK motorways was suddenly slashed from 70 miles per hour to a mere 50. This was done in an attempt to deal with problems caused by the fuel crisis.

Clearly, not so bothered about wasting fuel was NASA because it was merrily flying Pioneer 10 around the universe, possibly at a much faster pace than 50 miles per hour. And so it was that, this very week, the craft sent back the first-ever close-up photos of Jupiter.

Bringing everyone back down to Earth, it was also the week in which the United States' House of Representatives voted to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States. Not that they were in any kind of hurry but he was sworn in on the very same day.

While that was happening, on the UK singles chart, the Number One song was still I Love You Love Me Love by Gary Glitter.

And the accompanying album chart found its top slot occupied by Roxy Music's Stranded.

Obviously, subsequent events have robbed me of all ability to approve of that Number One single. However, the tracks I did approve of on that week's chart were:

My Coo-Ca-Choo - Alvin Stardust

Lamplight - David Essex

Roll Away the Stone - Mott the Hoople

Photograph - Ringo Starr

Amoureuse  - Kiki Dee

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day - Wizzard

Mind Games - John Lennon

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John

Showdown - Electric Light Orchestra

and

Dance with The Devil - Cozy Powell.

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

While the associated album chart resides right here.

Judging by that cover, I can only conclude this one contains the Earth-rattling conclusion to the Hulk's clash with Umbu the tuning fork-wielding giant robot from space. It's the tale in which our anti-hero saves the whole planet from a severe case of climate change; which only goes to prove that, despite his lack of social graces, the Hulk is as green as anyone.

Unfortunately, in the process, Bruce Banner gets zapped by a bucketload of radiation, collapses, face-down, on the floor and is immediately declared dead, by Ka-Zar who gives us a perfect demonstration of why he's not allowed to practise medicine.

As if that's not thrilling enough for any discerning reader, we also get the climax of Diablo's debut clash with the first family of Marvel, as the Thing finally comes to his senses and helps the Fantastic Four defeat the antagonistic alchemist before putting him back in the very hole from which he emerged.

It's a case of double trouble because Kraven the Hunter's so miffed that the new, unimproved Vulture's defeated his nemesis Spider-Man that he feels he now has no choice but to fell the feathery fiend, in order to prove who's top dog.

Of course, it turns out that neither of them is, as Spidey interrupts their fight and leaves them both in a pile on the floor. I do recall, especially that the wallcrawler decks Kraven with the sudden use of his, "Sunday Punch."

It's clearly a week for conclusions because we're also supplied with the end of the Thor story in which he must stop the Destroyer.

Fortunately, despite having a broken hammer, he proves more than up to the task and everyone will, no doubt, live happily ever after.

Wouldn't you know it, the Avengers are, yet again, forced into battle with the Masters of Evil, while Cap tracks Mr Zemo down to the jungle hideout in which he's holding Rick Jones.

According to the Grand Comics Database, the villain tries to bring an avalanche down on Cap but only succeeds in killing himself. Thus is the death of Bucky Barnes finally avenged.

Or is it? After all, is this the original Zemo? Or is this his son or nephew or whoever it was the fake Zemo was?

And it's a big day in the life of Dr Strange when he gets to have a scrap with Loki, who, being a god, proves to have noticeably more magic than the supernatural surgeon can comfortably handle.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - December 1973.

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

***

I don't know what Hollywood was on in December 1973 but it was clearly working. It was, after all, a month which saw the release of more memorable movies than you could shake a stick at.

Not only were we treated to such films as Serpico, Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World, Fantastic Planet, The Wicker Man, The Three Musketeers, Papillon, Sleeper, The Day of the Dolphin, The Sting and Magnum Force, we were also subjected, for the first time, to the legendary terror of The Exorcist.

Of those films, I've seen Serpico, Digby, The Wicker Man, The Three Musketeers, Papillon, Sleeper, The Day of the Dolphin, The Sting, Magnum Force and The Exorcist. To be honest, I couldn't choose a favourite from that lot but, being a horror fan, I'm always going to have a leaning towards The Wicker Man.

But I must confess that, in my head, I always get Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World mixed up with One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing.

The Living Colossus may not be one of Marvel's great characters but it seems you can't get him to stay away.

In this thrilling adventure, special effects man Bob O'Bryan's legs are broken by a vengeful actor. Fortunately, he then discovers he can mentally control the gigantic body of our main character.

But that's not all we get. We're also treated to a Lee/Ditko reprint titled The Man Who Captured Death! in which a dying man traps Death, in order to save himself but, holy smoke, he then discovers Death brings peace to us and is needed to keep things running smoothly.

Hold on. Isn't this basically the plot of the first dozen issues of Neil Gaiman's Sandman?

Now that they've finally got that bothersome clash with the Avengers out of the way, Marvel's non-team are free to get on with the task of revivifying the Black Knight, following his unfortunate descent into petrification.

Thus it is that they travel back to the crusades, for reasons I can't quite remember.

Put out the bunting because a brand new mag hits the shelves!

Granted, it's not that new. A quick glance at the cover will alert sharp-eyed readers to the fact it's a reprint book. 

Inside, we encounter The Other Iron Man which I believe to be the one in which the Mandarin abducts Happy Hogan, thinking him to be Iron Man - not realising he was just wearing the armour to enable Shellhead and Tony Stark to be seen by people in two separate places at the same time.

And then we get the Captain America tale in which the Adaptoid becomes the Super-Adaptoid.

That doesn't of course, prevent the star-spangled shield-slinger from spanking his bottom.

But, let's face it, this is what all sensible people came here for, as Fu Manchu's son makes his sensei-shattering debut.

After assassinating the unfortunate Dr Petrie, Shang-Chi feels bad enough about it to kung-fu his way past super-apes and sumos, for a confrontation with his malevolent father.

But that's enough of the new, because another reprint mag's turned up in our lives.

In this one, we find The Thing That Devoured a Planet, Enter: the Machine Age!, It Came From Beneath the Earth! - and The Eye of Doom in which floating eyes from Venus invade the Earth. All of these tales are 1950s reprints.

Interesting that, in that first story, a professor postulates the existence of a giant being who roams through space and eats planets.

There's no news of whether it's been seen in the company of a man on a surfboard.

And yet another new title enters our lives. Even if that title's taken from a 1940s movie.

Inside can be discovered such treats as The Ghost Still Walks, House of Fear!, My Brother... the Ghoul, and He Dwells in a Dungeon! which doesn't seem like the best place to dwell. Whoever he is, he really ought to consider moving to somewhere nicer.

Yet again, these are all reprints from the 1950s.

Knock me down with a feather, it's yet another new book launch. And guess what? It's filled with 1950s reprints.

This time, we're supplied with Like a Chicken Without a Head!, Rudolph's Racket, Propaganda! and Time Marches On!

Sadly, Rudolph's Racket doesn't appear to involve any red-nosed reindeers.

There've been plenty of first appearances, this month but there's also a final one, as Millie's rival meets her Waterloo.

All the tales in this are reprints as well but, this time, from 1970.

Amongst them are Soak It to Me, Time for a Sit-In, Groovy Southern Styles for Chili, More Money, Honey? and One Redhead Too Many.

Fifty years ago today - December 1973.

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

***

I may not wish that Christmas might occur on an endless 24-hour loop but, this month, exactly fifty years ago, I did because it was the month in which Wizzard's I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday and Slade's Merry Xmas Everybody first hit the charts, and Yuletide in Britain would never be the same again.

But what of the Marvel comics which bore that date upon their very frontages?

Would they ever be the same again?

I sometimes get the feeling nobody but me likes this tale.

Not that I care. I am, after all, pathologically incapable of hating any story from this era.

And this one brings high drama to our lives, as we get the gravity-thwarting return of the Vulture, intent on snuffing out Mary Jane Watson before she can dob him in to the cops, over a murder she's seen him commit.

But, is everything as it seems?

Also, judging by the cover, we're going to be getting more of Harry Osborn's descent into madness, mayhem and menace.

The Evil Eye saga hits its thrilling climax, as the Avengers and Defenders enter another dimension to confront Loki and Dormammu, while any super-doers who've been left behind on Earth - even the bad guys - get to battle the chaos and confusion the villains have created there.

I do have to announce that Cap looks strangely unbothered by the prospect of being both boiled and zapped at the same time.

All I know of this one is Baron Zemo's demented son's started calling himself the Phoenix and is out to inflict his own brand of vengeance upon the star-spangled superstar.

It's another one I know little of, but that cover makes it clear our hero's going to have to face the Gauntlet of the Seven Deaths which is six more deaths than most of us would bother having.

Judging by the absence of the obligatory cowering blonde on the cover, I can only assume it must be her month off. It seems that even cowering blondes must take a break sometimes.

Daredevil and the Black Widow find themselves up against the menace of Terrex who I assume to be no relation to Terrax.

It's a packed tale that features such luminaries as Kerwin J Broderick, Moondragon, the Dark Messiah, Ramrod and Angar. Not to mention Daredevil and the Black Widow. And, of course, Terrex.

I do believe this is the one in which Hornhead's given his sight back by Moondragon but then demands she send him blind again, as he's no good at fighting when he can see what he's doing.

 

Is this the one where Reed Richards does whatever it is to his son that Fantastic Four fans have been complaining about him doing, ever since?

As you can tell, I remember it all very clearly.

It's another classic - and a strange one, at that - as the Hulk finds himself up against an island full of monsters and a Betty Ross who's still not quite the full shilling.

At last, Iron Man has the sense to do what I'd do if I had a suit of armour. He goes on a murderous rampage.

Apart from that, Dr Spectrum's prism convinces the villain to let Iron Man in on their origin.

But the prism has ulterior motives. You see, it plans to use the distraction created by the story to abandon its current host and take control of the armoured Avenger.

Is this the one where Thor and his mates come up against a giant planet populated by giant people with a giant Hoover?

I'm never sure about this era of Thor. He and his sidekicks seem to spend all their time on quests into deep space; when they could be on Earth, bashing up top-notch foes like Mr Hyde and the Cobra.

Hooray! It's one of the rare stories featuring the Original X-Men that I actually like, as our heroes find themselves confronting the mysterious menace of the Mutant Master and Factor Three!

Sadly, I seem to remember the next issue failing to live up to its standards.

Well, that's Marvel's big-hitter taken care of.

But what of that company's Distinguished Competition? Just what was it producing in the tales that wore the month as their cover date?

The Black Orchid gets her second-ever adventure. And how great is it?

I've no idea. I must confess I can't remember a thing about it.

I've no doubt, though, she'll be up against common, everyday hoods who prove unsuited to tangling with a woman whose powers rival and replicate those of Supergirl.

But not only do we have the adventures of a woman named after an exciting flower, we also get a backup strip featuring Colonel Strong. And, no, I don't recall what happens in that one either.

Can it be? An epic collision between the Justice League, the Justice Society and the Freedom Fighters?

Too right it can, as the three teams split up to tackle machines controlling the Earth. Machines created by the Nazis.

However, those machines turned on their creators - and Adolf Hitler - seeing them as inferior.

Hold on. This is the plot of 1975's Genesis of the Daleks. Could this be mere coincidence?

This is it, my favourite issue of Secret Origins, when we're treated to the grave-defying truth of how the Spectre came to be. And just in time for his impending return, in the pages of Adventure Comics.

Cop Joe Corrigan's killed by hoods. But it takes more than that to stop him, as he's sent back to Earth by a higher power, who's clearly God, in order to put paid to all crime on the planet.

That might seem like a tough ask but Jim now has the power to kill criminals in every conceivable way. Including simply reducing them to skeletons where they stand.

The Original Captain Marvel gets the 100-page treatment - and does so with a batch of yarns that include such fare as A Twice-Told Tale!, The Original Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel, The Mighty Marvels Join Forces!, The Vest Pocket Levitator, Mary Marvel and the Dog-Nappers, The Adventure in Time!, The Talking Tiger and The Return of Mr Tawny.

The Vest Pocket Levitator is the one I most want to read. They don't come up with titles like that anymore.

Holy walking heaps of vegetation, Robin! The Swamp Thing only goes and meets Batman!

It all happens when Alec visits Gotham City to rescue his friends, and stumbles across the location of the Conclave, the organisation to blame for him having become the Swamp Thing in the first place.

And, of course, there's no way someone who looks like him's going to blunder around that city without attracting the attention of the caped crusader...

December 1st 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. 

***

All fans of Papua New Guinea were, no doubt, delighted, this week in 1973, as it was the week in which those islands achieved self-government, having previously been run by Australia. 

I must confess that, before writing this post, I was not aware Papua New Guinea had ever been ruled by the land of Kylie. I can only assume it must have been some sort of holdover from World War II.

What's this? A brand new Vulture? Who even wears a hat on his head? Can it be true?

Yes, it can! 

Apparently, the original version's managed to die in prison but, fortunately for all lovers of criminality, his cellmate Blackie Drago's been available to take his place.

Now what can stop that flying felon from defeating Spider-Man and becoming master of New York's airspace?

Not Spider-Man, that's for sure. It turns out the wall-crawler has a cold and promptly gets flattened by the feathery fiend, despite that fiend being rubbish by the standards of Spider-Man foes.

Thor, meanwhile, is still battling the Destroyer, Odin’s still asleep and Loki’s still trying to help the thunder god.

But can anyone possibly help our hero against such a deadly foe?

And will he even need it?

I've never read this story but what does instantly strike me is that its title must have provided inspiration for the later yarn Even An Android Can Cry. A fact of which I was previously ignorant. Truly, writing this blog is an educational experience worthy of the planet Earth's finest universities.

Apparently, the Wasp is on the verge of death - and only one surgeon can save her.

And it's not Don Blake.

Good grief, it's not even Dr Strange!

Amazingly, there's a third surgeon on the planet!

However, it turns out that, not only is he a whizz with a scalpel, he's also a space alien!

I can only assume this will fling endless trouble and obstacles in the path of the Wasp's recovery.

As for what Doctor Strange is up to in his own strip, I'm not totally sure but I do know the adventure's called The World Beyond and features the return of Nightmare.

Excitement is untrammelled because, for me, this is where the Hulk’s great era kicks off.

In this epic adventure, the Green galoot encounters the awesome power of Ka-Zar and his sabre–toothed tiger. 

I must confess that, when I read this, as a kid, it was the first time I'd ever encountered Ka-Zar and, because of that, I was under the impression he must be almost as strong as the Hulk.

Little did I know that he's just some bloke who shouts things.

But who cares about that? We’ve got the Savage land. We've got prehistoric monsters. We've got angry Marsh Men, and a giant robot called Umbu. Surely, no human being could ever demand more from a story.

 And it's not just the Hulk who's giving us classic fare, because the Fantastic Four are having their introductory scrap with the diabolical, chemical, chaos-causing criminality of a man the world knows only as Diablo.

What's his real name and why is a Medieval alchemist wearing a super-villain costume?

I've no idea but I do know he's managed the not altogether difficult feat of turning the Thing against his teammates.

Surely, it can only be a matter of instants before times are clobberinged and flames are on.

Speak Your Brain! Part 68. Favourite and least favourite films of the year.

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 not always easy to think of worthwhile introductions to posts but, as always, I'm not going to let that put me off.

Instead, I'm going to say it's the final Tuesday of this very month we've been living through - and that can only mean one thing.

That I've run out of things to talk about and must disinter, from its hole in the ground, the feature that dare not speak its name. Mostly because it's too busy speaking its brain.

It's the slot in which the first person to comment gets to decide the topic of the day. That topic could involve almost any activity known to man - or even not known to man.

Therefore, have no hesitation in grabbing your typewriter, putting a new ribbon in it, warming up your typing fingers and commenting below.

And wherever it is the conversation takes us, I'll meet it when it gets there.

November 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. 

***

If there was one thing you could rely on in the 1980s, it was that the next near-miss with a global nuclear holocaust was no more than weeks away.

And so it was that, in November 1983, Soviet officials misinterpreted NATO's Able Archer 83 exercise as a nuclear first strike!

Fortunately, sense prevailed and this would turn out to be the last nuclear scare of the Cold War.

Fittingly, it was also the month in which the United States' ABC channel aired the TV movie The Day After which supplied a fictionalised prediction of just what it would be like to survive a nuclear war.

Not quite going nuclear, that month, was the Turkish part of Cyprus which declared independence. Wikipedia didn't bother to tell me who it declared independence from. So, I shall assume it was from Turkey.

Elsewhere, Dad's Army star John Le Mesurier died, aged 71.

Elsewhere, following fertility treatment, 31-year-old Janet Walton gave birth to six daughters at once. A feat which made them the world's first all-female surviving sextuplets.

Over on the UK singles chart, the month began with Billy Joel's Uptown Girl at Number One and it ended with Billy Joel's Uptown Girl at Number One. In between those two dates, Billy Joel's Uptown Girl was Number One.

The British album chart was not quite so static, with Culture Club's Colour by Numbers initially seizing the throne before being given the boot by Duran Duran's Seven and The Ragged Tiger.

Captain Britain and the Special Executive continue to battle the Fury and - hooray - manage to bury it in rubble!

But have they - and we - really seen the last of the relentless killer of heroes?

Only time will tell but we can know that, in our second strip of the issue, Night Raven finds himself in a Quiet Town.

And, rounding off the book, the Kingpin sends his wife to New York to hire Nelson and Murdock so he can turn state’s evidence against East Coast crime bosses.

Sadly, for his plan, she's captured by the mob, who're looking to use her to lure him back to the city, so they can kill him.

It's a thrilling issue because the magazine dedicated to the world's greatest time traveller brings us news of the shock discovery of previously lost episodes.

That's followed by a look back at the William Hartnell adventure The Gunfighters.

There's also, as the cover can tell us, an interview with John Levene of Sgt Benton fame.

And there's a look forward to the imminent arrival of the 6th Doctor Colin Baker who's going to be inheriting the role from Peter Davison.

Doctor Doom's castle's still causing trouble for the X-Men. Inside it, the captive mutants are placed in deadly traps from which there's only one way of escape.

Needless to say, every single one of them manages to find that way.

Meanwhile, Havok, Polaris, Iceman and Banshee are battling their way through Murderworld, in a bid to rescue their teammates' friends and relatives.

In our second tale, Wolverine's in Japan but his latest girlfriend's horrified when she sees him in full-on berserker mode.

Conan's hired by beautiful twins to rob a bloke who lives on an island in the Vilayet Sea.

Needless to say, it all escalates quickly and Conan kills him. Then, on the way home, the twins are eaten by a sea monster.

As if that's not excitement enough for us, we're supplied with a backup strip the world knows as Demon in the Dark as relayed to us by the redoubtable pairing of Michael Fleisher and Alfredo Alcala.

The Nation's top sci-fi mag interviews Pamela Stephenson about her role in Superman III. 

Production designer Stephen Grimes talks about his work on Krull.

Anthony Perkins talks about Psycho.

And Michael Medved talks about his love of bad movies - and about Channel 4's upcoming season of the worst films of all time.

I do recall that season including such gems as Plan 9 From Outer Space, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Wild Women of Wongo, They Saved Hitler's Brain and Godzilla vs the Smog Monster.

November 24th, 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. 

***

In the absence of anything too thrilling having happened in the real world, this week in 1973, let's dive straight in to investigating just what Marvel UK was up to at the time.

If the Avengers thought they had problems before, now - judging by that cover - they're going to have to endure the full horror of a Rick Wakeman concert!

It's not one I've read but I do know Maggia boss Count Nefaria moves his castle to New Jersey and invites our heroes to attend its grand opening.

He then goes and ruins the big day by creating duplicates of them in an attempt to take over the country!

As for the whereabouts of Dr Strange, I can cast little light upon what he's up to but I do know he's in a tale they call Witchcraft in the Wax Museum  and that, whatever that witchcraft may be, it's all caused by the sinister spell-slinging of Baron Mordo.

But what's this on the cover? The boast that I'll gasp in amazement at the most unexpected final panel I've ever seen?

If it doesn't involve the Statue of Liberty protruding from a beach, I'll be highly disappointed.

Unless my memory fails me, this is the one in which Kraven the Hunter gatecrashes Flash Thompson's Vietnam party, in search of Norman Osborn who he thinks holds the key to finding the Green Goblin who he's decided owes him money or something.

Happily, Spidey's on hand to put a quick halt to such party-pooping anarchy.

And I do believe that, this week, Thor's still battling against the Destroyer. And, with Odin experiencing one of his heroic power naps, it appears there's no one who can help the thunder god.

Well, apart from Loki who, I seem to recall, decides it might be best to assist him before Odin wakes up and realises the trouble his less-favoured son's been causing.

Thanks to the plotting and scheming of Maximus, Hulky-Baby finds himself in the Great Refuge and confronting the power and majesty of Black Bolt.

Despite the fisticuffs, it all ends with everyone as friends and the monarch offering to let the purple-panted powerhouse remain in his hidden kingdom. However, the Hulk rejects the offer because that's the kind of monster he is,

Meanwhile, on the moon, the Fantastic Four conclude their latest tussle with the Mad Ghost and his super-apes.