FIDDLING FECKERS - EVERY LAST ONE OF 'EM...

Millionaire politician (& Prime Minister) David Cameron

Politicians.  What are they good for?  Apart, I mean, from feathering their own nests at our expense and lying to us.  Unless you've been living in Outer Mongolia for the last few years, you'll know about all the impending benefit cuts and 'room tax' that claimants will very soon be hit with.  Politicians, with their usual vacuousness, say it's not right that those on benefits should have a higher standard of life than those who are working.  Sounds good, doesn't it, but can you spot the flaw in their rationalisation?

Firstly, the number of unemployed people who are better off than those in work is a minority and not representative of the overall picture. I'm sure we're all aghast at feckless unemployed mothers of 11 children having new houses purpose-built for them 'cos they can't keep their legs together, but to penalise those who are genuinely in need of financial assistance is not the way to go.  Secondly, if anyone working has a lower standard of living than someone who is unemployed, it's not because benefits (in the main) are too high - it's because wages are too low.

If the government (of any party - I'm not partisan) is serious about addressing the alleged discrepancy between wages and benefits, then they should raise the minimum wage, not cut benefits, which - for the majority of those on them - do not provide the envious life of unbridled hedonistic luxury that politicians seem to imagine.

No - for that kind of lifestyle, one has to be a politician.  Let's face it - what with their expense accounts, food allowances, travel costs, subsidised bars and restaurants in the House of Commons, and all sorts of perks and extras that folks in the 'real' world can only dream about, politicians are the biggest 'benefit' scroungers in the country.

Don't know about you, but I'm sick of the lot of them.

PART SIX Of SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Safely strapped in?  Good!  And now, Kid's Kosmic Time-Kube (similar to the TARDIS) will transport you Merry MARVEL Madmen back to 1973 to take another look at SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY's back-catalogue of covers, pages and pin-ups from the halcyon and heady days of your youth.  (And mine, too.)

This trip, we're re-experiencing #s 15, 16, 17 & 18 of Spidey's British weekly comic, which also featured the awesome adventures of Asgardian thunder god, THOR The MIGHTY!  It'd be a few more months before The INVINCIBLE IRON MAN joined the line-up, but his escapades were well-worth waiting for.

STEVE DITKO's web-crawling, wondrous Spider-Man tales were still the main attraction, and DON HECK's hammer-throwing, long-haired Son of ODIN stories were the support act, but I'm sure most readers enjoyed one hero's dynamic dramas every bit as much as the other's.  How could they fail to?  Both features were scripted by the mighty STAN LEE, who knew how to spin a good yarn (pun intended) and always delivered the goods.

So sit back and indulge yourselves in fond recollections of yesteryear. The pandemonius present will be along to reclaim you soon enough, you can be certain of that.

  

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW...

I awoke this morning to a soft blanket of freshly-fallen snow, which was being replenished by swirling, frosty flakes cascading from the sky like an army of white-clad paratroopers.  "Must get that roof fixed!" I said to myself.  (Ho ho, what a wag.)

However, enough levity.  As I gazed at the wintry scene outside my window, I felt snug and warm and cozy.  (An all-girl band of my acquaintance - chortle, I'm a riot, me.)  Somehow, though, I couldn't shake the feeling that I'd have to get up for school soon, despite the fact I'd left the hallowed halls of education a whopping 38 years ago.  (And despite it being a Sunday as well.)

What is it about snow that awakens the child inside of us?  Fifty years ago, it was the Great Winter of 1963, which caused quite a bit of disruption the length and breadth of Britain.  Having just turned four a few months before, I was completely unaware of it.  (The disruption that is - not the snow.)  I'd have been out, sledging down the nearby hill and enjoying myself.

As I've said before (on many an occasion), it's funny how an event can seem so far away and so recent at practically the same time.  In one sense it seems like only yesterday, and, in another, like a million years ago.  Think I'll dig out my JIM REEVES Christmas Album and sit at the window and watch the snow fall.

In the meantime, enjoy the evocative wintry scene by INGA MOORE (from The WIND In The WILLOWS) at the top of this post.  It comes from the chapter entitled DULCE DOMUM, which, roughly translated means "Home Sweet Home".

FOOM COVER & IMAGE GALLERY - PART FIVE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Well, we're getting there.  There are now only nine issues to go before we complete our whistle-stop tour through all twenty-two FOOM mags from back in the sensational '70s.  This time 'round, we're looking at #s 12 & 13, featuring the android VISION and the fearless, sightless DAREDEVIL, respectively.

I have to confess that I find it almost painful to look at the IKARIS drawing by JACK KIRBY, which is stiff and blocky, and lacking the grace and fluidity that Jack's art once conveyed so effortlessly.  The 'KING' was definitely in decline, and it was a painful process to observe.

By contrast, look at the fabulous and nigh photo-realistic artwork by GENE COLAN, which is at another level entirely.  I'm unsure if the cover was drawn especially for FOOM or borrowed from an earlier source, but it certainly packs a punch.  Interestingly, the main DD figure looks very Kirby-esque, and I wonder whether the 'DEAN' borrowed the pose from one of Jack's CAPTAIN AMERICA figures.

Anyway, enjoy these powerful pages from Mighty Marvel's magnificent magazine for frantic fans - and don't forget there's yet more to come!

A ' never before page seen...'?  That'll be a 'never before seen page', natch