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| Copyright REBELLION |
It will come as no surprise to you to learn that, at different periods in my life, I've had different favourite comics. For instance, in 1965, it was TV CENTURY 21 that had my undivided attention. However, shortly afterwards, in '66, WHAM! became the latest object of my desire (or, to be precise, SUSAN STORM did, in reprints of the FANTASTIC FOUR). Ah, but then, in '67, FANTASTIC vied for my affections, and, fickle fecker that I was, I soon fell for the charms of SMASH!, THUNDER, JET, COUNTDOWN, TV ACTION, plus various merged versions of VALIANT, and, finally - The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL.
(Others followed over the years, of course, but I'll stop at 1972.)
So, here's a question for you: What were your favourite comics from your childhood and early teenage years - and why? Go on now, don't be shy - tell us all about it in the comments section.
26 comments:
How long have you got? UK favourites in kind of chronological order : - Harold Hare, Huckleberry Hound, Beezer, Beano, Dandy, TV comic, TVC21, Valiant,TV tornado, all 5 Power comics, Super DC, POTA, TMWOM, Dr Who,2000AD, Rampage, Mvl S-HM, Warrior, The Dare-Devils,Viz... ( I've probably missed a few!! )
That's a tough one as I can never recall the actual years of certain comics but the comics I remember liking as a child were:
Harold Hares Own - around 1965ish
I just recall really liking Harold Hare but can't re,member a lot about the book
the Beezer ;1965 - 1970 (this was the first comic I really remember looking forward to just really liked it nothing to me was bad and the large size was cool)
Wham; 1966 to the end of its run
I was reading the usual stuff Dandy, Beano etc but Wham was so different and my older brother and hi pals read these so it felft grown up . Plus the characters were so different and I recall liking Baxendale's work (and being aware of his style) Ken Reids Frankie Stein is still my favourite UK comedy character and it scared the poo out of me as a kid - of course the USA Marvel stuff of course
Buster (1967 - 1971))
Just loved the mix of adventure and comedy with strips like Galaxus, Mervins Monsters, Cruncher etc just good entertainment
Valiant (1967 - 1971)
Strangely I never liked Capt Hurricane so the first 3 or 4 pages were rarely read but it had the Steele Claw, Wild Wonders, and some cool Reid an Leo Baxendale stuff a classic comic
Lion 1968 ish onward to the end
Lion always seemed to hit it on the head with me re serials I loved the White Eyes, Spellbinder, Adam Eterno the Spider and one of my all time favourites Ood-ball Oates - (though I couldn't be bothered with Robot Archie Zzzzz) and Mowser, come on Mowser was cool
Smash 1969 (the IPC issues )
I loved the Odhams version but IPCs Smash has so much in it and it took me a while to read plus it had Leo Baxendale's amazing (then) new style on Swots and Blots
The Mighty World Of Marvel (1972 - 1976)
Bliss my all time favourite the first year and a half were to me the best ever.
I'm sure I have forgotten some comics (and I recall really liking the Dandy in the mid 60s) but these were my stand outs around 1970 I got into USA comics and in my teens (from 1972) pretty much was all US books
McScotty
Super DC was a favourite of mine as well, come to think of it, JP. I also bought POTA, Dracuala Lives, Rampage, Mighty TV Comic and various others, but I was usually getting other comics at the same time that I preferred.
******
McScotty, Mowser was brilliant! If the 2010 Dandy had been half as funny, it'd still be with us. Buster was a great comic back in '67-'71 - it never seemed quite as good once they got rid of Fishboy, Charlie Peace and - later - The Leopard from Lime Street.
I was born and grew up in rural Iowa, so I have no clue about most of these references (except Huckleberry Hound) but in the 70's when I came up I was a fiend for anything Marvel, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Thor... you name it. My Ma got me Spider-Man 150# was I was small and I read it and re-read it till it disintegrated. But anything cosmic, the F.F., Warlock and Captain Marvel and the Silver Surfer..forget about it. I was hooked for life.
I was a big FF fan myself, Anon, but in the '60s I first became aware of them through reprints in a British comic called Wham! Then I discovered the original U.S. comics and I still read FF today.
Hi Kid,
What comes to mind are:-
BEEZER
TOPPER
COR
SPARKY
TV COMIC
BUSTER
DONALD & MICKEY
Then I got into the British Marvel reprints starting with:-
MWOM #43
SPIDERMAN COMICS WEEKLY #24
THE AVENGERS
Strangely, the comic I most remember were 2 issues of POW! I had bought them from a school summer fete in the 1970's, long after the title had finished. I do remember Bad Penny, Bluebottle & Basher and Spider-man. Maybe you know which issues they were, because the Spider-man reprints was from the original US comic #35 "The Molten Man Regrets". I remember the fight scene vividly and the sound effects. I also believe Superman, Batman & Robin were in a strip together, but maybe the memory is playing tricks! Maybe it wasn't even Pow! But, those 2 comics introduced strange sensations into me, I can almost feel them now, they definitely had a profound effect. I soon began drawing my own comic and featured Spider-man fighting alongside my own characters (I still have the drawings in an old portfolio). Maybe those 2 comics were the greatest comics I ever had.
(Jake)
"The Molen Man Regrets!" was reprinted in Smash! & Pow! #s 140-143, Jake. Going by your description of sound effects, it sounds like #142 was one of the issues you had, meaning the other (if your two issues were in sequence) was either #141 or 143.
Favourite comics – my favourites were very closely allied to either artists or TV shows, depending on which was featured. Earliest memories were of the first issues of The Avengers that John Buscema was drawing, especially the one with Dragon Man on the cover (and I still have it!), another biggie was the Silver Surfer (again because of the Big John factor), followed buy his tenure on Thor and the Fantastic Four. Neal Adams was another artist that I associate with my early comic buying – particularly Green Lantern / Green Arrow, Batman and particularly Deadman. I have the collected Deadman stories in paperback and was so pleased that he resisted the temptation to go back and over render them (with the exception of one story, and having seen the original botched inks on that one I don’t blame him!). I must have had a near complete run of Countdown and TV Action at one time, sadly only a handful of issues with me now (though I do have them all as digital files, but it’s not the same , as we have discussed). Primary attraction there was the Gerry Anderson series and my favourite Doctor Jon Pertwee, who had the good fortune to be rendered by the excellent talents of first Harry Lindfield then Gerry Haylock, again with the artists. I am glad I managed to hang onto my Marvel comics and as you have observed Kid you are transported back a few decades (at least!) on taking them out (of their sealed bags – gotta preserve those memories) and looking through them again.
I like Big John's art myself, Phil - he was one of the greats. Your memories are very similar to my own experiences, except I was never much into Green Lantern/Green Arrow.
My favourite comics were influenced a bit by my older brother PhilSee's tastes, although I had my own personnel likes as well. Some that immediately come to mind are: Doctor Strange [both Gene Colan & Frank Brunner's style], Swamp Thing by the inimitable Wrightson, Conan [saw BWS blossom as it progressed], X-Men by Adams. A cousin also had some issues of Eagle, of which I liked Dan Dare.
We also collected a lot of the Gold Key titles which tied in with Hanna Barbera & other movie & TV titles of the time.
Marvel UK's Planet of the Apes. Not so much for the main strip but for the back-up strips like Warlock, Panther's Rage, Ka-Zar, Man-Thing and all those one-off sci-fi adaptations like He That Hath Wings, War Toy and Farewell To The Master.
Yup, Jeff, Wrightson's Swamp Thing was another belter. Talking of Gold Key, I've got one of their Yogi Bear comics in my collection.
******
POTA was a great little comic while it lasted, Steve. I got a letter published in one issue.
I must have been a late bloomer - didn't start really reading comics in earnest till I was about ten years old, having made friends with another fellow in my class who had been into them for some time*.
Having got the bug, though, I was ready and willing to read anything - Marvel, what DC was available, Archie, Harvey, Charlton, anything! I loved them all equally.
Not being old enough to be allowed to go into town by myself, the sole source of comics was a local newsagent - and boy, did they ever get sick of seeing me! You'd think they'd have appreciated a captive market...oddly, for all the American titles they carried, I never saw one of the British weeklies, picking them up at school fetes and such (the scarcity of which made them all the more interesting, naturally). Mighty World Of Marvel was the first British title I found in the shops, but again, it was the only one they carried (that Vulcan reprint title came a few years later). By that time I was a diehard Marvel and DC nut.
* he was the fellow I've mentioned before that wound up marrying our high school German teacher.
MWOM was a great title for the first 30-odd issues, B. And just think - it's still with us today, having been revived as a monthly back in 2003. It's running some nice Daredevil stories at the moment.
My senior boys are quite keen on the modern MWOM. A stray Zero Hour Superman from 1994 is also popular!
My favourite comics were:
The Topper
Fantastic
TV21
TV Tornado ( all before I could read properly)
Cor!
Whizzer and Chips
Countdown
TV Comic
MWOM
The Avengers
Savage Sword of Conan
The Titans
Captain Britain (until it went b/w)
Dr. Who Weekly
and in my very late teens to early twenties...
Warrior
Captain Britain (monthly)
A great list there, Dougie. All of those comics were on my own reading list at some time or other throughout my life. Out of the 16 you mention, I still have the 1st issues of 13 of them.
All this got me thinking, I'd be curious to see your ( and everyone else's ) lists of favourite 20 DC titles and 20 Marvel USA titles!
Plus, how about a post about POTA weekly? (I don't half give you some work! ) JP(est!)
I'll see what I can do about POTA, JP - I should some issues somewhere.
As for favourite Marvels and DCs, I'm not sure I like as many as 20 titles by either publisher, but here's my faves from various periods down through the years. (None of them really apply to today's comics 'though. I'm going back a good long time.)
Fantastic Four * Thor * Hulk * Spider-Man * Iron Man * Silver Surfer * Daredevil * X-Men * Avengers * Dr Strange
Superman * Batman * Kirby's Jimmy Olsen * Mister Miracle * Forever People * New Gods
The only U.S. Comics I buy today are Fantastic Four, Thor, and FF - and to be honest, it's a atruggle to get enthusiastic about them. They're just so...unmemorable. Sometimes it'll be months before I get around to reading them
Anyone else care to join in? Feel free.
I'm different in as much as I find it difficult to whittle my lists to just 20 of each, but mine would be ( mostly silver + 1 or 2 bronze )
Action, Superman, Adventure,Superboy, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Detective, Batman, World's Finest, Brave&Bold, JLA, Green Lantern, Flash, Metal Men, Doom Patrol, Metamorpho, DC Comics Presents, New Teen Titans, Night Force, Watchmen.
Amazing S-M, Hulk, FF, Uncanny X-Men, Avengers, JIM, Tales Of Suspense, D-D, MCIC, Mvl Tales, Not Brand Echh, POTA ( Curtis ), Peter Parker, Team-Up, 2-In-1, Defenders, X-Factor, DP7, Fantasy M'pieces/MS-B's, Man Thing.
Like you I cannot really get enthusiastic about modern comics ( not even the UK panini's/titans ) & believe me ,I've TRIED hard!!
As a small child, I liked the Gold Key comics with Hanna-Barbera and Disney characters that I knew from TV cartoons. The Batman TV series was a sort of gateway drug, and I got into the DC super-hero titles when I was about seven or eight. I generally preferred DC to Marvel; the latter seemed rather pretentious and overly melodramatic to me, even back then. I liked Gold Key/Western "serious" adventure stuff, like Tarzan and Korak, too. I fancied myself an iconoclast for liking publishers (Gold Key, Tower, Dell, Charlton) other than the Big Two. One classmate considered himself an intellectual and was a Marvel Zombie. The long arcs and romantic complications and angst all seemed terribly sophisticated to him. By the early 1970's, I was a teenager and had moved on to other interests. Besides, most comics publishers had by then either gone out of business, quit publishing comics, or gone all-reprint. And DC had adopted a house style so similar to Marvel's that there was no real difference between them anymore. -TC
when i was swapping as a child it was anything kirby related and the legion of superheroes.
I adored the reprints in the 100 page dc comics series which were always available in my local pencil notepad and eraser shop,a wee R S McColls which I can still picture to this day,although in my dream realm it has been modernised many times (oops I slipped into the Nether realms there)
Via the Planet of the Apes which I collected I was exposed to Adam Warlock which even in its infant stages was mind blowing to me.
I was aware of him as HIM and the panel with him standing on board the speedboat heading into civilisation just..sent me..
Then I followed that avidly all the way into the Starlin age.
Mighty World of Marvel and The Titans were important comics in my life.
That post had a great response Kid,could you tell us which issue of POTA you were published in,I have a few copies in my loft.......and would love to have a read at the kid.
For some reason, Baab, the number 89 sticks in my head, but I've no idea if it's the actual one or not. However, if you've got #89, give it a look-see.
Kid, I see alll the usual suspects listed above . My first comic was Teddy Bear. I was at an age where my mother would read some of the stories to me . Could there have been a happier time in my young life when I heard It being squeezed through the door with the evening paper on a Friday? Nah!!
Ken.
I bet you sometimes think back to those days when you hear something dropping through your letterbox today, eh? It's amazing what can trigger a memory.
in regard to your printed letter in POTA ,being lazy and internet savvy,I decided to do a search for issues of the planet of the apes and I found a great resource of reprints
http://pota.goatley.com/marvel_uk.html
I could not find your letter amongst the pdf but I dont think they are all inclusive so I may still have to go to the loft......
What was interesting was the amount of letters from Scotland.
The great thing is ,as I was going through the pdf's I realised how much I loved the comic and I will be re- reading the lot via the above website.
There is a point where the comic took a big detour with Mike Ploog and a lot of pirates that I really want to read again and when Alfredo Alcala started drawing it I remember feeling as if I was melting when I read his art.
So thanks again to you ,I am reminiscing.
I'll be visiting that site myself. Thanks, Baab.
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