PART FOUR OF THE SENSATIONAL '60s HERO, JOHNNY FUTURE...

Sharp-eyed readers who own any issues of FANTASTIC that these

JOHNNY FUTURE instalments originally appeared in, may have noticed

that they've been 'tidied up' slightly from the published versions. The process

involves removing prominent printing blemishes and age-discolouration to

make them appear as fresh and new as if they were issued only yesterday,

rather than 47 years ago. After all, LUIS BERMEJO's spectacular

art deserves nothing less than the best , I'm sure you'll agree.

Incidentally, I post these stories merelyto maintain interest in the

character and, even 'though I have all the original issues, I'd buy a deluxe,

hardback Omnibus edition of the tales if one were to become available. I don't

financially profit in any way from presenting JF's adventures, so therefore I'm

not depriving whoever may own the copyright of any money. On the contrary,

by helping to keep alive interest in the character, I may well be creating a

ripe field for harvesting should the copyright holders ever get around

to producing a collected edition.

So, hands up - who'd buy one if it were to become available? 

PART TWO OF NEAL ADAMS' BATMAN COVER GALLERY...

Layout by Carmine Infantino, inks by Neal Adams

Out of the last few posts I've published, by far the most popular has

been part one of this NEAL ADAMS' BATMAN cover gallery series.

So, being smarter than the average bear, I figure that means there's quite

a few of you out there in bloggerland who wouldn't be averse to seeing

a few more of Neal's Dynamic Covers  from way back when.

Well, whaddaya know - here are some right here, right

now, to whet your appetite. Talk about timing, eh?! 

Pencils & inks by Neal Adams

Pencils & inks by Neal Adams

Pencils & inks by Neal Adams

Pencils & inks by Neal Adams

Pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Dick Giordano

Pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Dick Giordano & Vince Colletta

Pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Neal Adams

Layout by Carmine Infantino, inks by Neal Adams

PART SIX OF SMASH! COVER GALLERY...

As I gad about the streets of Glasgow, mingling with ordinary

people and bathing in their silent but obvious admiration (egotist?

Nah!), one thought is constantly on my mind: "What can I share with

my blog members next!" Yes, hard as it may be for you to believe, you're

never far from my thoughts as I strive to bring you the very best pictorial

presentations and nostalgic nick-nacks that my vast and voluminous,

 captivating collection encompasses. (Don't you just love awesome
alliteration, even when it's mostly redundant?)

Of course, there are times when any old tat will do - but fear not, 

this isn't one of those occasions. What you see before you is another

half-dozen covers from one of the best-loved periodicals of the 1960s -

SMASH! Perhaps you need to have experienced them first time around

to truly appreciate their charm, but for those of you who did, I'm sure

you'll be truly grateful to be reunited with these fondly-recalled
covers from childhood. Just make out the cheques to...

Another six coming soon!

FABULOUS FLASHBACKS - COUNTDOWN TO TV ACTION ANNUAL...

 Launched in 1971, COUNTDOWN was, to all intents and purposes,

an attempt to duplicate the former success of the now declining TV21.

With the inclusion of GERRY ANDERSON related content and (instead

of THE DALEKS) DOCTOR WHO, the fact it was edited by TV21's

former art editor DENNIS HOOPER made comparison between the

two periodicals inevitable.

Initially, I ignored the comic - until it started to reprint (usually in black

and white) strips from TV CENTURY 21 itself. Even as a boy, I had an

overdeveloped sense of nostalgia, so the comic suddenly became a 'must-

have' for me. Truth to tell 'though, my strongest memories of the paper

are from when it metamorphosed into TV ACTION with #59.

Something else I ignored was the hardback Annual incarnation of the

weekly. In fact, I'm not even sure if I was aware of them at the time they

were published. However, a year or two back, someone gifted me the first

two in the series, and I recently acquired the third and final one, thereby

completing my collection of them. The first is simply titled COUNT-

DOWN, the second, COUNTDOWN FOR TV ACTION, and

the third, TV ACTION.

Being a rather generous chappie (somewhat against the Scottish

stereotype of tight-fisted meanie), I thought I'd share the covers and

some of the contents with you in this post. So, if you had these Annuals

when you were a youngster, you can relive precious moments from your

childhood or teenage years. If you're clapping eyes on them for the first

time, it gives you a chance to see what boring old farts like your dad

were reading over 40 years ago. Either way, you're a winner!

NEAL ADAMS' BATMAN COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

Pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Neal Adams

Raise your hand if you like the art of NEAL ADAMS. Wait 'til I

count 'em - one, two, three - h'mm, the pubs must still be open. Never

mind, I'll just assume that everybody likes Natty Neal's awesome artwork

and present a series of covers either pencilled and inked by him, or inked

by him over another's pencils. That way, we get the best of both worlds.

Ready? Then away we go! (See? Who says intros have to be long

and boring? Sure wasn't me!) 

Pencils & inks by Neal Adams

Pencils & inks by Neal Adams

Pencils and inks by Neal Adams

Pencils & inks by Neal Adams

Pencils & inks by Neal Adams

Pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Dick Giordano

Pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Dick Giordano

THE DOCTOR IS IN - TV COMIC (PART THREE)...

Art by Neville Main

Coloured for DOCTOR WHO CLASSIC COMICS #2 in

1993, here are another two episodes of The Doctor's comic strip

from TV COMIC #s 676 & 677, cover-dated November 28th

and December 5th 1964 respectively.

Maybe one day, someone will get around to tying in JOHN

and GILLIAN with regular TV continuity (if it hasn't been done

already). Were they the brother and sister of SUSAN? Does TV

Comic's Doctor, seemingly like PETER CUSHING's, come from

an alternate reality? We deserve to be told - so someone please

tell us before we get much older.

In the meantime, however, enjoy these pages from the

start of the Doctor's comic strip career.

THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING...

ISBN: 978-1-905239-30-6

Are you a fan of CAPTAIN BRITAIN? If so, five volumes

worth keeping an eye out for in your local comicbook store are the

five MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVELS reprinting all the CB stories from his

own weekly title in 1976, right up to the last issue of his monthly title in '86 -

and every titanic tale in between. The first volume came out in 2007 and the

final one in 2011, but they've probably been reprinted since, as I saw volume

one with a different cover advertised on AMAZON a just few months back.

There's also been at least one OMNIBUS volume, but as the early stories

are scanned from original issues, it's slightly more obvious than in the

smaller softcover editions, where it's barely noticeable.

Alas, I can't scan the interiors without cracking the spines, so

you'll have to take my word that the quality in these PANINI-published

volumes is extremely good, and you'd have to look twice to notice that the

early tales are, as I mentioned, scans from published comics. They're well-

worth having if you want to own every CB adventure from '76 to '86. Each

book has informative intros by comics pros like CHRIS CLAREMONT,

HERBE TRIMPE, STEVE PARKHOUSE, GARY FRIEDRICH, RON

WILSON, BOB BUDIANSKY, DAVE THORPE, ALAN DAVIS

and DEZ SKINN, plus various other bonus features.

I noticed some volumes in my local FORBIDDEN PLANET a

few months back, so I'd imagine they're still available to order  for the

discerning Marvelite who wants to add them to his personal library.

  

ISBN: 978-1-905239-72-6

ISBN: 978-1-84653-401-0

ISBN: 978-1-84653-433-1

ISBN: 978-1-84653-459-1

DOES THIS HAVE THE X-FACTOR? PART ONE...

Cover art by Sandy Plunket

The very first MARVEL INDEXES (or INDICES, if you prefer)

were produced by PACIFIC COMICS DISTRIBUTORS from around

1976-'82 and then by MARVEL COMICS themselves, who have issued

various versions over the years. Two of the best ones were THE X-MEN

and THE AVENGERS series in 1987, the former being six issues and

the latter seven.

What distinguished them from earlier and later versions (the ones

I've seen anyway) was the fact that the cover reproductions were printed

almost full-size, and the odd variation aside, were mostly faithful to the way

they'd been originally published. They also sported some nice new cover

art, and 'pin-up' splash pages by various then-current Marvel artists.

Have a look at the first three and, if you like what you see, let me

know and I'll show you the other three; then perhaps I might let you

have a peek at The Avengers Index. Go on - whaddya say?

Splash page art  by John Romita Jr & Klaus Janson

Cover art by Walt Simonson

Splash page art by Walt Simonson

Cover art by Tom Grindberg & Tom Palmer

Splash page art by Tom Grindberg & Tom Palmer