December 27th, 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. 

***

If you like your ear drums smashed to a pulp, this week in 1975 was your lucky break, as it saw the foundation of heavy metal outfit Iron Maiden, in London.

But what of other forms of music?

The Christmas Number One slot is a prized possession in the British record industry - and it was seized, that year, by Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody which had already been top of the pile for several weeks, at this point.

The unlucky runner-up was Greg Lake whose I Believe in Father Christmas had to settle for the Number Two spot.

And there was also triumph for Queen on the accompanying album chart, with their A Night at The Opera still ruling the roost.

Should one wish to investigate matters further, that week's UK Christmas singles chart can be found here.

While its associated LP rankings dwell within.

My knowledge of this week's Conan adventure's a little vague but I do believe he battles his own shadow.

Following that, there aren't many Avengers tales I don't like, from this era but, somehow, I've never been able to warm to the Cornelius van Lunt storyline. I think have a need for super-villains in an Avengers tale.

And, if that cover's to be believed, Dr Strange must battle the rather fancily-named Cagliostro.

It looks like we're in for it now, what with all those monsters coming for us!

But, inside the comic, I do believe Drac's got crises of his own. And that's because the current owner of the statuette he's been searching for is using its power to torment his enemies.

I'm not at all sure what Jack Russell's up to in his strip.

And the Man-Thing's series begins with the muck monster up to something or other.

In a swamp, I should imagine.

Once more, Cornelius finds himself confronting people who took shooting training from the Star Wars Storm Troopers.

That aside, we reach the tragic climax of Marvel's adaptation of Escape From the Planet of the Apes in which our heroes find nothing but the ultimate escape.

Next, it would seem the Black Panther's got his mittens full when Malice (of whom I have no recollection) attacks his palace, seeking to liberate Venomm.

Elsewhere, while pledged to watch over the stricken Dr Calvin, Ka-Zar finds himself in New York City, rescues a pusher from a street gang and gets caught up in a turf war!

Now Peter Parker's got a pickled pack of prickly problems. Professor Smythe has discovered his secret identity - and he's the type to use it against him!

However, our hero is not a man without resources and, so, he quickly knocks up a life-like rubber mask that will trick the villain into thinking he's not really Peter Parker.

Iron Man's still in the future and trying to bring down his own computer that's taken over the world.

And, somewhere in the vicinity of a hospital, Thor's tangling with the Wrecker!

Hooray! It's the tale in which the Hulk's strip goes completely mad and MODOK turns Betty Ross into a demented harpy!

Or is it?

Once inside the comic, we find no sign of the head of AIM.

Instead, we encounter Part 2 of Jade Jaws' first encounter with Zzzaxx.

In Daredevil's strip, the Black Panther goes in search of the missing Man Without Fear, although, in his current, delirious, state, he's more the man without marbles.

And Starr Saxon is still holding Karen Page prisoner!

Meanwhile, Psycho-Man is tangling with the Fantastic Four, as the Silver Surfer conducts a fateful rendezvous with Galactus!

It's a living nightmare for Giant-Man and the Wasp when their greatest-ever foe the Human Top escapes from jail and returns to his life of high-speed crime!

The X-Men must overcome the menace of the Locus, a man dressed as a grasshopper who controls an army of giant grasshoppers.

And the Scarecrow's battling demons who've leapt out of the painting he inhabits.

Things aren't going well for the Inhumans who manage to get themselves captured by Magneto. Is this to be their moment of doom?

And Prince Namor has plenty on his plate, as well. Not only has he been made to rob a bank - by the Puppet Master - a huge sea-monster called the Behemoth has burst into life, after centuries in hibernation, and is on course to trash Atlantis.

And, now, Warlord Krang thinks he sees a way to gain control of the beast!

In SHIELD's strip. Hydra are still threatening to destroy us all, with a giant bomb.

And it's looking grim for Captain America, as he suddenly realises it's 20 years to the day since the Red Skull told him his deadly Sleeper robots would awaken exactly 20 years from the moment at which he was talking.

In other words, that means the Sleepers are about to burst into life!

And Subby isnt the only one having problems with the Puppet Master, because Captain Marvel has trouble with a giant robot that's being controlled by him.

And, then, he has trouble with Iron Man who's now also being controlled by him!

The 1975 Marvel UK annuals for 1976.

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

***

Mariah Carey is a complete and total fool.

Every year, she foolishly declares that all she wants for Christmas is me.

While I understand the inevitability of such a sentiment, does she not know that, if she plays her cards right, she might also be able to land herself something almost as precious?

And that's annuals. Those hardback treasure troves of comic strip goodness that only Santa Claus knows how to lay his hands on.

But, first, let us discover just what was on television in the United Britain of Kingdom on Christmas Day, 1975.

BBC One was giving us such treasures as The Happy Prince, Rod Hull and Emu, Laurel and Hardy, Holiday on Ice, Top of the Pops, The Queen, Billy Smart's Christmas Circus, The Wizard of Oz, The Generation Game, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and The Morecambe and Wise Show, as well as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Good Old Days and Parkinson Meets Bob Hope.

I'm sure you'll wish to know the Christmas Day edition of Top of the Pops featured performances by such magical guests as Pilot, Ralph McTell, Mud, 10cc, David Essex, Johnny Nash, Guys & Dolls, the Tymes, Tammy Wynette, the Bay City Rollers, Telly Savalas, Art Garfunkel, the Stylistics and CCS.

BBC Two, meanwhile, was presenting us with the likes of Christmas Day Play Away, Prince Charles: Pilot Royal, Swan Lake, Great Big Groovy Horse, The Evacuees and Guys and Dolls.

Great Big Groovy Horse was, I'm sure all culture vultures know, a rock musical about the Trojan Wars. Yes, you can tell it was the 1970s.

And what of the nation's commercial ITV network?

It delivered such treats as Chipperfield's Christmas Circus, Doctor in Trouble, Captain Noah and His Floating Zoo, The Bay City Rollers Show (with Gilbert O'Sullivan), Christmas Celebrity Squares, Get Some In!, Love Thy Neighbour and The Taming of the Shrew.

I, of course, remember watching none of the above shows, even though I'm sure we must have had the TV on, non-stop, all day long.

It is interesting to see ITV broadcasting The Taming of the Shrew. I'm not sure I could imagine modern-day ITV doing that but perhaps I unfairly malign it.

That done with, it's annual time!

Despite Marvel UK publishing seven weekly titles in December 1975, there were only three annuals that year.

And you know what?

I didn't have a single one of them. What a nightmare Christmas it must have been.

The book dedicated to the world's mightiest super-team reprints three consecutive issues of The Avengers.

In the first, the vivacious Valkyrie makes her dynamic debut when she shows up at the Avengers Mansion and tries to get the Wasp, Medusa, Scarlet Witch and Black Widow to join her team of Lady Liberators.

But is it all a trap set by the Enchantress?

And who's going to stop the New Masters of Evil while all this is going on?

And is the Vision going to get dissolved in tarmac?

Speaking of the Enchantress, our second tale sees that villainess work her charms on Arkon, as the gang once more come into conflict with the inter-dimensional barbarian king.

And, then, our heroes travel to another world in which they encounter Brain-Child and must recruit the help of the Squadron Supreme, in their bid to stop him.

There, is, of course, a Marvel Annual, this year.

And, in it, the Chameleon tricks the Hulk into breaking his friend out of jail. An act that I suspect will attract the attention of a certain friendly neighbourhood arachno-sapien.

Then, the Sub-Mariner, Silver Surfer and Hulk help the citizens of a Central American country overthrow the tyrannical rule of El General.

Next, that trio once more band together. This time, to prevent military weather-control equipment from being utilised. This leads them into conflict with the Avengers.

And, of course, on top of that, we encounter multiple single-page pin-ups of the type we'd never be foolish enough to rip out of the book and actually use.

We kick off this year's Spidey book with the most disappointing crossover of all time, as Peter Parker's alter-ego and Dracula find themselves on the same cruise ship but never actually meet.

Rather more importantly, Spidey needs to find a specific doctor on that ship, in order to acquire medicine for Aunt May who's had another of her turns.

Next, we get a Lee/Kirby/Ditko yarn in which the wall-crawler gatecrashes Dorrie Evans' birthday party, immediately bringing him into conflict with her boyfriend the Human Torch!

And, finally, Stegron inflicts a bunch of dinosaurs upon New York!

And only Spider-Man and the Black Panther can hope to stop him!

2000 AD - November 1987.

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

***

We all love a good Christmas movie.

The trouble is it's not Christmas. It's November 1987.

But I know what! In the face of that disappointment, let's cheer ourselves up by going to the pictures!

And what might we find when we get there? 

We might find Cry Freedom, Made in Heaven, Russkies, Steel Dawn, The Running Man, Laguna Heat, Flowers in the Attic, The Last Emperor, Nuts, Sign o' the Times, Teen Wolf Too, Housekeeping, Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Three Men and a Baby because they were all released in that month.

And I'm sure they were all fine examples of the cinematic arts.

But, of course, they all pale besides the true masterpiece which was unveiled that November.

And that was The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones. I've not even seen it and can still tell it was the high watermark of Western Civilisation.

Meanwhile, in the world of transportation, the UK's InterCity 125 broke the world speed record for a diesel-powered train by reaching 238 km/h which also happens to be 147.88 mph.

Elsewhere, the first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in mainland China opened in Beijing, near Tiananmen Square.

Less thrillingly, it was the month in which London Underground's King's Cross fire killed 31 people and injured 100 others.

Mysteriously, persons unknown hijacked the signal of the United States' WGN-TV and WTTW stations to broadcast a video of an individual pretending to be Max Headroom.

But what if he actually was Max Headroom? Have the authorities ever considered that?

Have they?   

When it came to the UK singles chart, November began with the Bee Gees' You Win Again at Number One before it then lost to the sounds of T'Pau's China in Your Hand.

When it came to the accompanying album chart, the month arrived with Fleetwood Mac's Tango in the Night on top before being toppled by George Michael's Faith which then gave way to T'Pau's Bridge of Spies which then subsided before the might of Rick Astley's Whenever You Need Somebody which was then dethroned by Now That's What I Call Music! 10. Somehow, there were five weeks in that month, despite it only being 30 days long.

But what of the galaxy's greatest comic?

I have little to report on that score but I do know Tharg was still giving us a steady diet of Zenith, Bad Company, Judge Dredd, Nemesis The Warlock, Strontium Dog and Freaks.

December 20th, 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. 

***

As the year approaches its latter days, let us visit the land of Marvel UK to see what is occurring therewithin.

I think it's pretty obvious, from the cover, just what this week's Avengers story is.

It's the one in which they do battle with, erm, er...

Anyway, inside the comic, the cover's other star - Conan - is up to something as well.

Though I don't know what it is.

As for the Avengers, once inside, we discover there are no giant robots anywhere in sight.

Instead, the world's mightiest super-team finds itself working for ruthless tycoon Cornelius Van Lunt, thanks to a liquidity crisis.

And I do believe Dr Strange goes in search of Baron Mordo, in order to inform him of the death of the Ancient One.

From what I can make out; this week, Black Bolt's captured by Magneto who thinks he's a mutant, and is out to recruit him and the rest of his family to the evil mutant cause.

When it comes to the Avenging Son, Namor has a stroke of misfortune when he's taken over by the Puppet Master who wants him to rob a bank on his behalf.

In Nick Fury's strip, Hydra are still planning to set off a massive big bomb.

Speaking of major explosions, Cap and Bucky are still in Greymoor Castle in World War Two and bidding to prevent Nazis from launching a great big missile at London!

And Captain Marvel decides to give Yon-Rogg a taste of justice but has to cut short that revenge mission when he discovers Carol Danvers is imperilled on Earth.

I initially misread the speech balloon on this cover as saying, "Stay back, folks! So commands Dracula!" I now can't imagine the lord of all vampires talking like anything other than a duff working men's club entertainer.

Within these pages, it would appear Drac's still on the lookout for that missing statuette.

However, a villain's got his hands on it and plans to use it to take over the universe!

In the Living Mummy's strip, Dr Skarab's tapping into the scarlet scarab's power, looking to defeat the evil Elementals.

And the Werewolf by Night finally reaches the climax of his tussle with the Jekyll-and-Hyde-like Dr DePrayve.

As we can see from Ken Barr's dramatic cover, we're still escaping from the Planet of the Apes.

While, in his strip, the Black Panther finds himself confronting the snake obsessed-terror of Venomm.

And Ka-Zar's still hanging around with the Man-Thing and AIM.

It's news that all monster fans should celebrate, as Zzzax makes his electrifying debut!

And even Hawkeye may struggle to stop him!

But there's bad news for Matt Murdock. Not only does Starr Saxon know he's really Daredevil, the hero's now starting to hallucinate, thanks to having radioactive blood.

And Saxon's run off with Karen Page!

Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four are in a microscopic realm, having trouble with Psycho-Man, while the Silver Surfer - the man they were there looking for - has returned to our world, in order to become Galactus' herald again.

It's crisis time for Spider-Man when Professor Smythe not only unleashes his Spider-Slayer upon the streets, walls and rooftops of New York but, also, thanks to a city-wide network of hidden police cameras, has just found out that Spider-Man is none other than Peter Parker!

I don't know. First Daredevil, now Spider-Man. It's getting like super-heroes can't keep anything  secret anymore.

Tony Stark's in a far-flung future, trying to put an end to the reign of a super-computer he himself created.

And Don Blake decides to help out at a local hospital when a renowned civil rights leader gets shot. But, in that self-same establishment, the Wrecker's tranquillisers wear off and it's no time at all before he's back to smashing things to pieces.

Giant-Man makes short work of toppling the communist government of El Toro, by revealing to the people that the newly-installed president rigged the election!

Count Nefaria still has a dome over the city of Washington but is soon thwarted by Professor X and his ability to read minds.

And the Scarecrow sorts out a bunch of occultists who are trying to steal the painting he lives inside.

Speak Your Brain! Part 114.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

Listen. Listen to the footsteps of mystery, as they approach, like some dread phantom on your staircase, as you lie in bed, telling yourself, again and again and again, "It's just my imagination. There can't be a dread phantom on the staircase. There can't be. There can't be!"

And that mystery is, "Just what, exactly, is to be the topic for debate on this night in mid December?"

It's a mystery I cannot resolve. Only you can do that by suggesting a topic for debate, in the comments section below.

Therefore, suggest that topic and let all uncertainty be banished from our staircases.

Before it's too late.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - December 1985.

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

***

Good grief! There were more memorable movies released in December 1985 than you can shake a clapperboard at!

Was this an attempt to cash in on the lucrative pre-Christmas market? Or was it just a sign of the film industry's unbridled creativity?

Either way, the month saw the unleashing of Young Sherlock Holmes, Spies Like Us, The Jewel of the Nile, Clue, Legend, Brazil, The Color Purple, Out of Africa, A Chorus Line, Enemy Mine, Ran and Revolution.

I've seen surprisingly few of those films and suspect that the ones I have seen - The Jewel of the Nile and Legend - are not the best of the bunch.

Therefore, as so often in the past, I shall leave it the reader of discernment to decide just which is Film of the Month.

It's the news we've all been waiting for, as The Bozz Chronicles hits a spinner rack near us and intends to fully embed itself there until we determine to buy it!

To be honest, I don't have a clue what it is or what it involves but I do know it's the handiwork of David Michelinie and Bret Blevins and will run for six issues of, what its covers imply to be, retro but high adventure.

And that's not the only new publication tempting us to part with our hard-earned dollars, pounds, francs, guilders and whatever other currency we may possess, because Six From Sirius 2 also makes its debut.

This magazine is likewise mysterious to me but I do know it comes from the minds of Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy and is destined to run for four instalments.

This issue also includes a six-page yarn titled Parody which is the sole work of John Zack.

We all love the X-Men. We all love Alpha Flight. Clearly, if they meet, we're going to love it twice as much!

And so it is that we spy in on an adventure in which they find themselves in a mysterious big palace thing and come up against the schemes of Loki himself.

All I recall of this one is that, at some point, Rogue tries to absorb the powers of Loki but can't, what with him being a god.

Also, I think Loki gives the members of the cast what they most want in life but they end up rejecting his gifts. A fact that he gets very miffed about.

Marvel makes its stab at relieving famine in Africa, with Heroes For Hope.

It seems to be made up of a whole heap of stories of not more than three pages each, utilising such talents as Harlan Ellison, George R R Martin and Stephen King, as well as a whole slew of our favourite comics creators. I do notice that Jim Starlin seems to have an input into much of the material. 

The Hulk gets his fourteenth annual and does so with the 40-pager The Weakness of the Flesh!

Again, I know little of this but can sensationally reveal it's brought to us by writer and artist team John Byrne and Sal Buscema.

And, barely to be outdone by the Hulk, Thor lands his thirteenth annual.

But will it be unlucky for some?

Especially the thunder god when Mephisto kidnaps Ulik's brother and uses that to force the troll into fighting Thor?

Although, knowing Ulik, it's a bit of a surprise that he has to be forced into it.

What's this? Has Marvel taken the radical and bold step of reprinting issues of the legendary British girls horror comic Misty?

No, it hasn't. 

Does that mean Iron Fist's Misty Knight has finally been granted the comic of her own that she's always warranted?

No, it doesn't.

Instead, we're treated to a string of short dramas starring the woman of that name, and produced by Trina Robbins.

I get the feeling the tone of this comic may be quite light.

I also get the feeling it will run for six issues.

December 13th, 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. 

***

Change was noticeable by its absence, atop the UK music charts, this week in 1975, with Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and Perry Como's 40 Greatest Hits retaining their Number One statuses on the single and album listings, respectively.

Bo Rhap is, of course, a long recognised standard but other tracks I approved of on that week's singles chart were:

You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocolate

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine Ft Chill Wills - Laurel and Hardy with the Avalon Boys Featuring Chill Wills

I Believe in Father Christmas - Greg Lake

In for a Penny - Slade

Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale

Space Oddity {1975} - David Bowie

Love is the Drug - Roxy Music

Mamma Mia - ABBA

and

Itchycoo Park {1975} - the Small Faces.

Should the enquiring reader wish to further pursue the issues raised by this post, that week's singles chart resides here.

While its accompanying album rankings dwell within.

After months of giving us the likes of Giant-Man and the Cat, Marvel UK finally wheels out one of its big-hitters, with the Scarecrow!

Now, no one can doubt the comic is destined for the greatness that has, so far, been denied it!

Meanwhile, Giant-Man and the Wasp head to Santo Rico to try and bring down its newly elected Communist president El Toro.

In another seat of political power, Count Nefaria's captured the X-Men and trapped the whole of Washington DC in a giant dome!

And, as already mentioned we're introduced to the Scarecrow who lives in a painting and likes to burst out of it, laughing at people!

I do believe Conan's still adapting The Hand of Nergal.

While, in the present day, his lookalike Arkon's trying it on with Wanda.

But it looks like he has more pressing matters to deal with, as the Avengers are invading his planet, and Thor's concocted a plan to resolve everything, more or less peacefully.

And I think Dr Strange is still fighting Shuma-Gorath who's finally revealed his true, octopus-like, form!

The Inhumans travel to San Francisco where an amnesiac Black Bolt's got himself involved in civil rights protests.

Only for them to bump into Thor who thinks they're up to no good!

Elsewhere, Subby goes to investigate the earth tremors that have been rocking Atlantis.

Only to discover they were caused by a drilling machine controlled by Hank Pym!

It would be nice to think this can all be resolved sensibly but I think we all know it'll be resolved by a punch-up.

Elsewhere, Nick Fury's been abducted by Hydra who intend to set off a huge bomb!

In England, it's World War Two and Captain America and Bucky are trying to rid Greymoor Castle of Nazis.

And what of Captain Marvel?

Returning to Earth, with his new powers, he quickly finds himself having to battle a communist robot!

Fortunately, for him, at the same time that's going on, the Black Widow's invading the base of the people who built it - and she's out to put a stop to their activities.

It's issue #60 and Dracula suddenly finds himself having to share top-billing with the Legion of Monsters!

Not that there's any sign of the Legion of Monsters actually inside the comic. It's just the same strips we always get.

In Drac's tale, he's still in pursuit of that statuette he's been in pursuit of for weeks.

In the Living Mummy's strip, Dr Skarab utilises the Scarlet Scarab's power, in a bid to defeat the Elementals.

And I think the Werewolf by Night's still battling the affable scientist who's accidentally turned himself into a brutish thug by drinking his own experimental potion.

But did I say it's just the same strips we always get?

In fact, I was wrong because we finish this issue with a three-page tale in which a researcher proves correct, to his own cost, his theory that maggot eggs are always present in living tissue. And that's reprinted from 1953's Adventures into Terror #19.

Despite that cover, I can confirm that Zira and Cornelius do not get to watch Ka-Zar and the Black Panther fighting dinosaurs on TV.

Instead, they have to put up with the human race turning against them. 

The Black Panther, meanwhile, has to worry about his own kingdom turning against him, as he sets about recovering from his bruising and water-logged first encounter with Erik Killmonger.

As for Ka-Zar, stuck down a hole in the ground, he helps AIM capture the Man-Thing.

Not that it stays in captivity for long.

I've no idea what's going on with that cover which seems to have nothing at all to do with anything that happens inside this week's issue.

Instead, we get the Hulk defeating Aquon, before a shocking denouement sees Captain Omen's crew explode like tomatoes in a microwave.

That's followed by Daredevil having problems with Starr Saxon who's discovered he's secretly Matt Murdock.

I do, of course, mean Daredevil is secretly Matt Murdock. Not that Starr Saxon is. The latter revelation would be madness, even by the standards of a man who once pretended to be his own non-existent twin brother.

Despite the cover blurb's claims, I believe the Stiltman plays no part in this tale.

And the Fantastic Four are still in the Microverse and in search of the Silver Surfer.

But will Psycho-Man find them before they can complete their mission?

My razor-sharp senses tell me Professor Smythe and his Spider-Slayer are back!

And Tony Stark's also in trouble. He gets kidnapped by people from the future, to stand trial for a crime he's not even committed yet!

It seems he's going to invent a super-computer that's going to take over the world!

And Thor takes a leaf out of The Blob by transporting the unbeatable Thermal Man to the Arctic where he'll be too cold to cause any more mischief.