Pow! Annual 1968

Thought i'd take a punt on an annual that i don't remember to see if there were any hidden gems to surprise and delight me.
Wish i'd not bothered with this one.
The original, UK sourced strips were pretty darn forgettable, with characters that aren't mentioned really these days - and you can see why.
Of real interest though are the US reprints, including this Spider-man strip, in very basic colours, that i remember from my Mighty World Of Marvel days:



And this Nick Fury, with appallingly garish colours:



And this Fantastic Four episode, which again i remember from my MWOM days, but for some reason the colourist has decided to do the Thing in white. Odd. Its not like he didn't have orange - its there on the wall in the next panel:

What i was reading 38 years ago - Battle 28th February 1976

So i've had a look through my boxes to find an issue of something that was out this week way back when, and i've gone with this issue, sporting a pretty average cover:



And the inside was pretty average too. We're a couple of weeks into the run of "Action" here and, even though i don't recall it, i just know what's in these pages here would've paled completely to what i was experiencing in the other title, especially as i'd buy both and read both at the same time.
Anyway, of note for me these days is the historical retellings that "Battle" did so well, this time helped by the beautiful art of Mike Dorey:




And, of course, Major Eazy. A fantastic read at any time and this tale of the fella going behind enemy lines to play cards with the Germans is in his reprint edition. But in the actual comic we get get the colour spread - and what lovely subdued colouring, which wouldn't look out of place in modern comics now:



"AIEEEE!" WATCH:
A short "AIEEE!" from a shot Japanese soldier in "Merrill's Marauders".
Its a "AIEEEE!"-fest in "Cold Steele". Possibly the most of them i've ever seen in one strip. We get:
a spot-on 100% "AIEEEE!" from an ambushed German,
then an even bigger "AIEEEEE!" from the bloke in the next truck.
Then another spot-on "AIEEEE!" from a snipered Englishman.
We're back with the shortened "AIEEE!" from a bayoneted German,
then his mate gives out a AIEEEEE!",
and we finish with another friend finishing the tale with another 100% "AIEEEE!".
"The Bootneck Boy" gives us the final batch with two extended's - a AIEEEEE!" and a "AIEEEEEE!"