IT'S DESPERATE, DAN...

Copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

I must confess to not being impressed by sections of the new DANDY.  It seems indisputable to me that the overall look could be improved by a few simple steps, namely in the lettering department.  Which is not to say that all the lettering is bad, but it would still benefit from a change to upper case to make it easier to read.  I don't even mean that the current style is too small, but it's definitely too rough in places to flow smoothly.

So far, I've studiously avoided specifically naming any particular strip or artist that I'm not so keen on, but JAMIE SMART's DESPERATE DAN strip seems to be the focus of a lot of less-than-positive attention elsewhere on the internet.  I'm assuming he letters the strip himself in the new Dandy, but if so, he really isn't doing himself any favours.  Have a look at the DD trailer page (above) from the OLD Dandy.  His art doesn't seem quite as roughly finished, and the overall look of the strip is vastly improved with more uniform frame borders and consistently rendered, uppercase lettering.  I'm sure at least some of the critics would look far more favourably on the strip if it looked like this.  (Though I'd still prefer a slightly more detailed version - after all, the original had been established for nearly 70 years.)

The editor did no one any favours when he abandoned the above slightly more polished-looking finish for the current one.

Okay, D.C. THOMSON - you've had your fun - change it to the above look - NOW!

NOT A "MATTED MASTERWORK OF MURDEROUS MALIGNANCY" - BUT DEFINITELY A MASTERWORK...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Just out - the MARVEL MASTERWORKS edition of The MIGHTY THOR Volume 9, featuring the last of JACK KIRBY's run on the title.  This bombastic book also contains two NEAL ADAMS and three JOHN BUSCEMA illustrated tales, which provide an interesting contrast to Jack's artwork.  Golden Age Great BILL EVERETT inked some of the Kirby tales in this volume, foreshadowing the look that MIKE ROYER was later to give Kirby's pencils, but it's the VINCE COLLETTA finished stories which steal the show.

Since he died, Colletta has been unfairly (in my opinion) much-maligned for some of the shortcuts he took on Kirby's art, but he was a favourite with readers at the time.  (Apparently the book dipped in sales when Everett inked it.)  VC's finishes gave Jack's pencils a far more illustrative look which totally fitted the mood of the comic - in fact, it was Colletta's inks which were largely responsible for that mood.  Say what you like, but Vinnie's inks gave more to Jolly Jack's pages than they ever took away.

With an introduction by WILL MURRAY and reprinting The MIGHTY THOR #s 173-183.

Run, don't walk, to your nearest comics store and pick up your copy now.  (Pay for it first though.)

ISBN # 978-0-7851-4200-1.

And still available is the softcover edition of the first volume of Thor Masterworks, containing JOURNEY Into MYSTERY #s 83-100.  This recent printing of the book contains the best and most faithful presentation of Thor's origin since it was first published, and is a must-have for every true believer.

ISBN # 978-0-7851-4568-4.

So, what're you waiting for?  Rush out and buy it today!

TOYBOX TREASURES Of The PAST - ANYTHING Can HAPPEN In The NEXT HALF HOUR...

The rubberband version



1965 was the year I got my rubberband-powered STINGRAY by LONESTAR. There was also a clockwork version which looked pretty much the same (see below), but it was the cheaper version I had. Cheaper, but no less fun at the nearby pond just along the road from where I lived at the time.  And there was also the kitchen sink or the bath for Stingray to continue its undersea explorations when I couldn't be bothered going out or the weather was against me.



The clockwork version

I acquired a replacement for this childhood toy a good number of years back and proudly have it on display.  VIVID IMAGINATIONS produced their own, far more detailed version of this craft sometime back in the '90s, but there's something about the '60s original which is hard to beat.