SANTA AND THE SUPER SEVEN - WOTTA KNOCKOUT!

Copyright REBELLION

I make no apologies for posting this classic Christmas cover yet again (having done so about two or three times before), because it epitomises everything that was once good about the British comics industry (when we had one) and British Annuals in particular.  As most people will know, Annuals usually went on sale around August or September, so that pesky kids could pester their parents about which one (or maybe even ones) they wanted to find in their Christmas stockings on the 25th.

As Annuals were published for the following year (for example, 1973 Annuals went on sale in 1972), not all of them featured Yuletide-themed covers. Perhaps it was thought that doing so relegated them far too quickly to 'last year's present' in the minds of kids, but it could also have a more positive aspect.  To an Aunt and Uncle struggling to think of a prezzie for 'wee Jimmy', a Christmassy-covered Annual would be sure to recommend itself as a distinct possibility. However, regardless of the whys and wherefores, KNOCKOUT Annual 1973 is as Festive a cover as anyone could wish for.

So... here it is again. (MIKE BROWN was responsible for the art chores, if I remember correctly.)

TAKE A PEEP At POW! - The CHRISTMAS ISSUE...

Copyright REBELLION

Another of the 'big five' (as I l call 'em) POWER COMICS was POW!, companion paper to WHAM!, SMASH!, FANTASTIC and TERRIFIC.  As well as a mix of British strips, Pow! featured reprints of SPIDER-MAN and NICK FURY, later also publishing The FANTASTIC FOUR once Wham! had been merged with it. Pow! was probably the weakest of the Power Comics, but it still had things to recommend it to the reader intent on seeking out a nice selection of humour and adventure strips. Above is the Christmas issue from 1967.

The back page is DARE-A-DAY DAVY, another surreal KEN REID strip, where readers were invited to write in and dare Davy to do something.  Those chosen had the delight in seeing their suggestion brought to life in the typical madcap Reid manner and also win a pound into the bargain.  What more could a child want out of life?  One tale was deemed so horrific that it wasn't printed, only showing up, I believe, in a fanzine article a number of years after Pow!'s demise.  As it was pulled at the editing stage, it was never properly lettered, but that's something I may put right when I have the time.  Remind me to show it to you one day.  In the meantime, click on the image to enlarge and enjoy Ken Reid's anarchic lunacy at its finest.