COMIC COVERS 'SNAP'! PART THREE...

 

Copyright DC COMICS

Here's the mighty MAN Of STEEL in his 1938 debut tale in ACTION COMICS #1.  JOHN BYRNE used a reversed version 48 years later for the cover of The FANTASTIC FOUR #291.  And 26 years after that, the layout was utilised for a character with super-strength who predates even SUPERMAN - by almost ten years.  POPEYE #1 hit the stands a few months ago and may still be available in your local comicbook shop.  It's extremely likely that the cover design has seen print quite a few times down through the decades - if you know of any others then feel free to let me know.

FANTASTIC COVER GALLERY PART 12...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Once more we plunge back into the turbulent time stream (without a TARDIS) to revisit the year of 1968 and look again at the covers of FANTASTIC, a British weekly publication from ODHAMS PRESS.  If you don't already know, Fantastic reprinted various MARVEL superhero adventures, enabling us lucky Brits to catch up on the tales of The X-MEN, IRON MAN, THOR, The AVENGERS, etc.

Take a look at the cover of #70.  Believe it or not, although The HULK's adventures were first reprinted in sister publication SMASH! in 1966, they had started with Hulk #2 - so this was the first time that Odhams had presented ol' Greenskin's debut tale.  (Likewise, when SPIDER-MAN was reprinted in POW! - a comic from the same stable - they started with the first issue of his own title - the tale from AMAZING FANTASY #15 was bypassed completely.)

I remember my brother buying Fantastic #70 while on holiday in Largs that year, and both of us going over its pages while standing outside the 'close' of the ground floor flat we were staying in (with outside loo).  I also recall us poring over it again at the table inside later that day, so the Hulk tale was obviously something that fascinated us.  I got a STEVE ZODIAC & ZOONY on a friction-drive JET-MOBILE and a bendy CAPTAIN SCARLET figure on that same holiday, so 1968 was a good year for me.  Ah, such fond memories.

The back-page of issue #72 was the same as #69, so I haven't bothered to repeat it here as there's no point in showing the same ad twice.  Well, that's all for this visit - be sure to tune in again soon for another instalment of Fantastic Cover Gallery. There's only seventeen more to go and you don't want to miss the full set.

Feel free to share any childhood reminiscences that any of the  covers may conjure up for you in the comments section.

HAS ANYONE SEEN MY DINKY?

Way back in the mid-'60s, the big thing on British TV was THUNDERBIRDS. (BATMAN was still a few months away.)  GERRY ANDERSON's latest puppet programme was a sensation, spawning all sorts of merchandise.  One such was the diecast Thunderbird 2 toy, manufactured by DINKY, which was then owned by the MECCANO company. 

I wasn't lucky enough to have a brand-new TB2 when they first came out - I had to wait a few years before I managed to get a beat-up one from a jumble sale.  It didn't have the red exhausts, but, being an ingenious sort of kid, I used the red tops of two Colgate toothpaste tubes, affixing them with parts of a wooden lolly-pop stick which fitted in the holes where the exhausts were designed to go.  It looked great, if I say so myself.  I don't know what eventually happened to it over the course of time - it simply disappeared, quietly and without notice, but I never quite forgot it.

A few years back, I saw one in a toy and model shop situated in Parnie Street in Glasgow.  Like its predecessor, it was lacking both exhausts, plus one of its legs, but it was going for only a few quid so I bought it.  Thankfully, there are a few diehard enthusiasts around these days who professionally manufacture replacement parts for classic toys from yesteryear, and I was able to obtain the required pieces from one such supplier.  A friend had a TB2 with one surviving leg, so I bought four replacement ones and swapped them for the one from his model.

Next, I stripped the chipped and flaking paint from my TB2, repainted it (by hand), fitted the new exhausts and missing leg, then applied a brand-new set of adhesive labels to complete the desired effect.  What you're looking at in the above photo is the result of my handiwork.  The replacement pieces and labels are virtually indistinguishable from the originals, and I finally have a practically pristine version of the famous Dinky Thunderbird 2 from 1966.  The cost?  Around £12 to £15, all in.

Of course, it's not worth the same as an unrestored version, but the monetary value doesn't concern me.  As long as I've got a toy that I once had as a child and it looks as I remember it (or in this case, even better), then that's good enough for me.

"Thunderbirds are go!"