Sunday 11 September 2016

Forty years ago today - September 1976.

September 1976 was an exciting month for all lovers of talking frogs, amorous pigs and strange, indeterminate crow-like creatures because it was the month The Muppet Show was broadcast for the very first time.

To be honest, I was never a fan of them, as they seemed far too energetic and enthusiastic for my liking and kept bursting into song and dance routines.

Fortunately, there was one group of characters in my life who could never be called a bunch of muppets.

Well, alright, given their propensity for fighting each other at the drop of a hat and for no good reason, "A bunch of muppets," is probably exactly what they should be called.

Regardless, what were they up to in this month of exactly forty years ago?

Avengers #151

I genuinely have no idea what happens in this one.

The blurb gives the impression that a brand new lineup for the Avengers is being introduced - but weren't all those people on that cover already in the Avengers?

Conan the Barbarian #66, Dagon

I believe this is the lead-up to the tale where Conan, Red Sonja and Bêlit scrap it out to get their hands on the dreaded Book of Skelos, only for Kull to somehow get dragged into it all.

I was always happy for Red Sonja to put in an appearance, especially if she was threatening to stick a sword in Bêlit who I always found a bit annoying and surplus to necessity.

Thinking about it, not having read any Lovecraft up to this point, this comic must have been the first time I'd ever heard of Dagon.

Captain America and the Falcon #201

I believe I've never read this tale but it does have a memorable cover that I've seen reproduced in numerous places over the years.

Fantastic Four #174, Torgo returns

Hooray! Torgo's back - and so are the Skrulls - as the Fantastic Four strive to find a planet for Galactus to eat instead of Counter-Earth.

Incredible Hulk #203, Psyklop is back

Psyklop is more than back, in a tale I suspect can only mean bad news for Jarella.

As I may have mentioned elsewhere, Psyklop's first appearance is one of my favourite ever Avengers tales, and the first time I ever saw Sal Buscema's work in print. So, I was no doubt pleased to see the villain's return, even if the Hulk wasn't.

Iron Man #90, the Controller

I always had a soft spot for the Controller, even if he did look bad.

Come to think of it, I think I had a soft spot for him because he looked bad. It doesn't hurt a super-villain's appeal if he looks like someone you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley.
Amazing Spider-Man #160, the Tinkerer is back

Amazing Spider-Man #98, Spider-Man loses his gripThe Tinkerer's back, on a cover that seems to owe a fair bit to the front of Amazing Spider-Man #98, as we see the ultimate demise of the Spider-Mobile.

Tragically, I think this issue claims the Tinkerer wasn't really an alien and had just been pretending to be, on his first appearance.

Given my love for aliens in fiction, this was a development of which I didn't approve.

Thor #251, Hela is back

Do those arms belong to the trolls who put in an appearance in the very first issue of The Avengers?

If so, I'm all in favour of such a return, as I fear the trolls' grabbing ability was woefully under-utilised from that point on.

In fact, I can't remember it ever being utilised at all.

Daredevil #137, the Jester is back

The Jester's still up to no good.

7 comments:

Aggy said...

Avengers 151 has Thor leave to be replaced as Chairman by Iron Man. With Wonder Man turning up at the end to start the whole Vision has his mind storyline.

Steve W. said...

Thanks for the info, Aggy. Does this mean the legendary Wonder Man vs Vision fight is just around the corner?

Anonymous said...

Don't know about hooray for the return of Torgo - the problem with Roy Thomas on the FF was that he seemed to be forever revisiting ideas from the old Kirby/Lee run.
Mind you, seems he wasn't the only one; I'd note that only Kirby's Captain America seems to be trying to do anything new here, but I think I said that last month.

-sean

Anonymous said...

PS I think the the Avengers line-up change was the departure of Thor and Moondragon... which I believe I also mentioned last month, Steve, so how can you have no idea? Surely you're paying attention to our comments ;)...

-sean

Steve W. said...

Sean, I can't even remember what people said to me yesterday. I have no chance of remembering what they said last month.

Anonymous said...

Fair enough, Steve, my memory isn't perfect either.
Sorry, what was that again?

-sean

TC said...

"Doctor, I have memory lapses."

"How long has it been going on?"

"How long has what been going on?"