MIKE NOBLE'S STAR TREK - PART THREE...

Copyright relevant owner

No point keeping you in suspense over what happens next in the TV21 STAR TREK comic strip from 1970, so here's the beautifully illustrated third episode by MIKE NOBLE for you to salivate over.  The next two instalments are front cover three-pagers that you won't want to miss, so be sure to keep your peepers peeled for future posts.  (You know it makes sense.)

Click here for Part Four.

  

KULL THE TREE-WRESTLER...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS and CONAN PROPERTIES Int.

While we're looking at big, brave, bold barbarians, let's take a little peek at this KULL The CONQUEROR classic from CONAN The BARBARIAN #10.  There's no point in me wittering on about it in my usual long-winded way - quality of this sort always speaks for itself.

BARBARIANS ON THE LOOSE - KULL COVER GALLERY...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS and CONAN PROPERTIES Int.
Cover by Ross Andru, Sal Buscema & Marie Severin

I still remember the (long-gone) newsagent's where I first bought the above issue of KULL The CONQUEROR, can yet recall perusing its pages on the walk home on that sunny Saturday morning back in 1972 or '73.  Funnily enough, I think that's the only issue I ever read (or even saw) until they were reprinted in SAVAGE SWORD Of CONAN, a U.K. weekly published in 1975.  Sadly, it only lasted for 18 issues.

Almost a decade later, I obtained a replacement for that 1st ish, and acquired subsequent issues over a period of 15 years or more.  The art in #1 was by ROSS ANDRU & WALLY WOOD, with ace siblings MARIE & JOHN SEVERIN illustrating #s 2-9, and Marie & FRANK CHIARAMONTE on #10.

Number 11 saw MIKE PLOOG take over the art chores as the mag changed direction and title, being renamed KULL The DESTROYER.  One day I may decide to collect the remainder of the series, but until then, allow me to share the covers of these magnificent MARVEL mags with you here.  (Update: Acquired the Kull Omnibus in October 2022, which contains every Marvel Kull tale from the '70s.)

Cover by Marie & John Severin

Cover by John Severin.  This tale was published between #s 2 & 3

Cover by John Severin

Cover by John Severin

Cover by John Severin

Cover by John Severin

Cover by John Severin

Cover by John Severin

Cover by Marie & John Severin

Cover by Marie & John Severin

Cover by Mike Ploog

BONUS: Below, Kull's first Marvel Comics appearance in CREATURES On The LOOSE #10, cover by HERB TRIMPE & MARIE SEVERIN, interior art by BERNI WRIGHTSON.

EXTRA BONUS: Below, LIN CARTER's THONGOR Of LEMURIA - cover drawn by JIM STERANKO, interior art by VAL MAYERIK & VINCE COLLETTA.

CONAN CLASSIC COVER GALLERY...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS and CONAN PROPERTIES, Int.

The above dramatic cover takes me back in time, I must say.  Purchased from the basement comics department in the Glasgow Virgin Mega-Store in 1994, I had it with me when I met legendary entertainer BOB HOPE (for the second time) after his show in the City's Royal Concert Hall at the top of Buchanan Street.  This was the only issue left, so as it's dated the actual month I bought it, it would've likely gone on sale around March.

Perhaps my ol' memory is playing tricks on me, but I seem to recall that it was in this very issue that I first learned of the then-relatively recent death (in February) of JACK KIRBY, though I was buying quite a few MARVEL mags fairly regularly at that period and should already have read of the sad event.

Of course, it could be that I was simply re-reading something of which I was already aware, but the BULLPEN BULLETINS announcement of the "King's" demise - along with a JOE SINNOTT illustration of The THING - made quite an impression on me, so I tend to associate the comic, Kirby's death and Bob Hope's concert with that one particular night on a pleasant June evening in Glasgow City Centre almost 20 years ago.

There's something else which is significant about this issue - the entire 11 issue series, in fact - and that is, as far as I'm aware, it was the last time that Marvel Comics reprinted the '70s BARRY (WINDSOR) SMITH classic tales of the Cimmerian mercenary, CONAN The BARBARIAN (in colour anyway). 

So, come with us now, back to the dark days between the sinking of Atlantis and the dawn of recorded history.  Come with us to the raw, untamed world of - CONAN CLASSIC!

******

(To read the above issue, click here.) 

And, just to complete the circle, here's the original cataclysmic cover to Conan The Barbarian #1 from 1970.

BATMAN... AND THE RINGER!

BATMAN copyright DC COMICS.  Art by WALTER HOWARTH

Here's another 'errant' part of my childhood recently returned to the fold.  I managed to pick it up on eBay for a mere couple of quid and can now place it alongside #2, which I re-acquired 32 years ago from a shop in Gosport to replace the one I had as a youngster.  At this rate, I'll need to live for another couple of hundred years or so to have any hope of completing the set.

Should you be interested in reading my reminiscence of when I first owned these collectable little BATMAN books back in the '60s, click here.

PART TWELVE OF MWOM COVER GALLERY - WITH CLASSIC TALE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Only one issue of The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL this time around, but what an issue it is.  Containing the STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO tale, "I USED TO BE... HUMAN!", this classic was worth the cost of 5 pence by itself back in 1973 - and then some.  I've posted this story before, from the 1968 FANTASTIC annual, but that version's text had been slightly revised in places.  Not so with this presentation, which is exactly as Stan typed it and ARTIE SIMEK lettered it.  (The panels were slightly cropped, however, to fit the different U.K. page dimensions.)

There's no point in me saying "enjoy" - how can you fail to? 

PART TWO OF THE DALEKS SWEET CIGARETTE CARDS FROM THE '60s...

Copyright BBC TV and the Estate of TERRY NATION

As you'll know from the previous post in this series, there was once an item of confectionery for kids manufactured by CADET (the confectionery, not the kids) which came with a collectable card in each packet - 50 in total.  Dr. WHO & The DALEKS cards are now extremely sought after and command quite a few pounds these days  so I hope you appreciate my generosity in letting you see both sides of them and not charging a penny.

Believed to be drawn by RICHARD JENNINGS, one of the artists on the '60s Dalek Annuals and back page TV CENTURY 21 strip, they portray a far more energetic Doctor than we were then used to seeing on our television screens.  Perhaps he had a secret stash of extra-strength vitamin pills that he was popping, who knows?  (No pun intended.)  Oh, and he seems to be from Earth, not Gallifrey, according to whoever it was who scripted the cards.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this blast from the past - keep your peepers peeled for Part Three - coming soon.