HANG LOOSE, FACE FRONT, 'NUFF SAID, EXCELSIOR!

"Wait'll I tell Kirby that I met Kid Robson."

When you're a living legend and creative megastar in the world of comics, one of the things you have to put up with is ordinary folk wanting their photo taken with you so that they can tell their buddies you're their best friend.  Such a thing happened to me one day when out of the blue, this wrinkly old pensioner (oo-er - sorry, Stan) insisted I pose for a photograph with him - anybody know who he is?  Oh well - just another day in the life of a leg-end - er, I mean legend.

"AS HISTORY BOOKS HAVE SHOWED..."



Illustrated by E. H. Shepard

The WIND In The WILLOWS by KENNETH GRAHAME entranced me from an early age, and even if you're now a crusty old adult, you really should give it a read if you haven't done so already.  It's another of those deeds that should be on a "things to do before you die" list.  Forget the stigma of reading a so-called "childrens book" - the standard of English employed in the book elevates it above and beyond that much-maligned and inaccurate category.

As the author himself said, "It is a book of youth, and so perhaps chiefly for youth, and those who still keep the spirit of youth alive in them; of life, sunshine, running water, woodlands, dusty roads, winter firesides."  I'd say it's definitely the finest book of its kind, so what's not to like?  And do your very best to get an edition illustrated by ERNEST H. SHEPARD.

Even if you don't feel like reading it yourself, buy a copy for your kids (or nieces and nephews) - above the age of 12, I'd suggest - as a Christmas gift.  They're bound to thank you in later years for having enriched their young lives.

Preparing for battle

GERRY ANDERSON'S BATMAN..?

"Where's my swimming trunks?"

You're looking at a LOUIS MARX TOYS' TWISTABLE BATMAN, which I assume was readily available in all good toy shops at the height of the 'Bat-craze' back in the mid-1960s.  (I owned several in my time, all purchased (on different occasions) from a super little shop known as NURSERYLAND.  "Everything for Baby" it boasted, but it also sported quite a wide range of toys for kids of all ages.)

He was produced without trunks, but that apart, was a fantastic fun figure - looking for all the world like a GERRY ANDERSON puppet.  Is that STEVE ZODIAC under the Bat cape and cowl?  Sure looks like him to me - what about the rest of you?

Apparently, pristine examples of this toy can fetch up to £700 (according to a dealer who's well-known for charging about three times that of everyone else), but I managed to pick up mine for a mere £30.  It still had the original cape, although it was torn and tatty, but was missing the belt, Bat emblem and Bat-a-rang.  I made a new cape using the original as a template, and recreated the other missing items, which - although not original - suffice for the purpose of display.

All in all, a nice little acquisition.  Anyone got a spare Bat-a-rang and Utility belt they can sell me?  If so, get in touch.

BOB - BETTER BRING BILL - BATMAN'S BACK!

Images copyright DC COMICS

Remember the BATMAN craze of the '60s?  TOPPS published a set of cards to cash-in on the interest that the TV show had incited, and to anyone who had them back in 1966, the above and below images will surely bring back happy memories of their childhood.  A further two sets were released after the first, and - fortunately, for people like myself who foolishly never kept the originals - Topps reissued them back in 1989 when the new TIM BURTON/MICHAEL KEATON/JACK NICHOLSON big-budget Batman movie hit the screens.

Ah, happy days.  More '60s Batman merchandise soon, perhaps.

"WHERE TREASON DWELLS - DWELL I..!" (EH? WHAT'S HE ON ABOUT?)

Pencil tracing by Dom Regan, inking and lettering by Kid Robson

 

Many of you will have seen The FREEDOM COLLECTIVE one-shot mag from a small independent 'publisher' a number of years back.  There were quite a few people involved with the issue, but I believe the basic premise was based on a suggestion by a Glasgow artist (not the one allude to below and named above), author, and well-known man about town.

I'm unsure whether the original pencil rough of the above image was prepared as a possible project or merely for the artist's own amusement, but it was traced from a copy of the cover of STRANGE TALES #135 - which I then inked, embellished, improved, as well as lettered, and which came out not too badly at all, in my humble estimation.

"KRUST" was later changed to "K.R.U.S.H.", but the above illustration is how it left my drawing board.

LET'S NOT "WELCH" ON OUR DEBT TO RAQUEL...

 

"Kid - I love you!"

To compensate for the upsetting

nature of the previous post's photo (now

deleted, but even the subject complained),

here's one which won't have you reaching

for a 'barf bag'!  (If this is a woman, then

lemme tell you, my last girlfriend must

 have been a navvy.  Bleccchhh!)