THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO - COME TO 'LIFE'...

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You're looking at the cover of BLAKE BELL's book from 2008, The WORLD Of STEVE DITKO.  When myself and one of my pals, MOONMANDO, visited an art gallery recently and saw a display of giant heads, I remarked that they reminded me of Ditko in some way, though I wasn't quite sure why.  It was semi-regular com-menter McSCOTTY (in response to a post I did of our visit) who pointed out that the display was reminiscent of the cover of Blake Bell's book - which I've had in my collection for a good while.

Anyway, Moony played around with a couple of photos he'd taken of the display, transforming them from colour into black and white, and also photoshopping the suspending cables out of the picture.  He's graciously allowed me to reproduce them here and, as you can see, they're almost like the Ditko illustration brought to life.  I wonder if the display's creator was inspired by the co-creator of SPIDER-MAN - what do you think?

FROM FANTASTIC TO FUTURE SHOCKS...

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Y'know, it's curious how seemingly unrelated things are connected in some way.  Case in point, the recently deceased STEVE MOORE, who started his not insignificant career as an office boy at ODHAMS, and then had a major impact on British comics over nearly the next fifty years.

At one time (after the demise of WHAM!) my favourite weekly comic was FANTASTIC, which Steve was involved with as a teenager, even appearing in a superhero costume (on the letters page of issue #50) which a reader had designed, stitched together, and sent in.

Steve also created the THARG'S FUTURE SHOCKS format for 2000 A.D., and it was one such strip which was my first professional IPC lettering assignment when I started freelancing for them at the start of 1985 (having been assured of work by editor STEVE MacMANUS in '84).

Just think - if Steve Moore hadn't created the format, there may never have been an opportunity for me to work for IPC, as it may have been harder for Stevie-Mac to put me on a strip already being regularly lettered by someone else.  The individual nature of the Future Shock strips however, allowed for different contributors per episode, thus giving me an opening into the comics business.

So, just as I'm grateful  to Steve MacManus for giving me a chance to work on 2000 A.D. to begin with, I'm just as grateful to Steve Moore (whom I never met as far as I'm aware), for creating the series that gave me my break into the industry, and a fifteen year career working on, amongst others, IPC's top-selling comic at that time.

As I said - curious how things are connected, eh?

A DAY OUT IN GLASGOW...

It was quite a muggy day today, but, undeterred, myself and one of my good pals, the intrepid Moonmando, journeyed into Glasgow's well-to-do West End to indulge ourselves in a leisurely look around Kelvingrove Art Gallery.  So, for a nice change of pace, instead of boring you with my usual woeful waffle, I thought I'd bore you with my insipid images instead.  Considerate to a fault, that's me!

(And count yourselves lucky - I took nearly twice as many photos as you see here.)

Here's Yogi, sans hat, collar & tie

It would be possible to step over the balcony and onto the wing of the
spitfire, but I wouldn't advise it.  (And the gallery wouldn't allow it)

This reminds me of Steve Ditko's art for some reason

The fourth oldest University in the English-speaking world

Student's Union Bar

Saint Silas' Episcopal Church in the West End

This building was burnt-out a few years ago and was left a hollow
shell with no floors from top to bottom.  I used to sneak into the
basement while it was lying vacant and just gaze, amazed, at its
cavernous emptiness 

Hopefully these items will be replaced in Kelvingrove Park at some point in the future

One of the entrances to the back of Park Circus

A back lane in Park Circus

Park Circus - elegant Georgian townhouses.  Looks like the A-Team are visiting

This building, No. 8, is now private apartments, but was formerly a Bed & Breakfast called
Kelvin Lodge.  Myself and a young lady once stayed the night in Room 21 on the middle
floor, to the left of the window above the door

Lost - one white cat.  Return to Ernst Stavro Blofeld

Kelvingrove Park

IT'S GOOD TO BE ALIVE...

I saw this video on the FRANKENSTEINIA blog

 and quite enjoyed it.  Thought you might like it also.

"KNOW WHAT TOMORROW IS, DUCKY?"

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The above strip, from The PENGUIN BOOK Of COMICS, is the very first The WIZARD Of ID strip I ever saw, back in the early 1970s.  It gave me such a chuckle that I later bought a couple of paperback collections of the Wiz's newspaper strips, and very funny they were too.  I'd highly recommend them to all you Criv-ites.  (Below is a version I coloured myself.)

JOHN BYRNE'S FANTASTIC FOUR COVER GALLERY - PART THREE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Hard to believe that, with this post, we're almost halfway through JOHN BYRNE's run on The FANTASTIC FOUR, one of the 'must read' MARVEL mags of the 1980s.  I must confess to enjoying PAUL RYAN's art on the FF when he eventually assumed the artistic duties, but I was never as impressed with the stories as I'd been with some of Byrne's tales.  I'd have loved to see JB continue scripting the series and Paul Ryan drawing it - that would've really been something, don't you think?

Anyway, enjoy the covers here and be sure to rejoin us for another ten in an upcoming post.

This one's another mag I bought before dropping in on Glasgow's Blue Lagoon for a Fish
& Chips tea.  Unfortunately, those particular premises are now gone, though others yet
remain in the city centre

This, I believe, was the first ish of the FF I bought after moving to a new house in 1983.
What's more, I got it from the shop I used to buy TV Century 21 on my way to school when
I was 6.  On the way home with this mag, I stopped in a park and sat on a huge stone to read
it, a stone that had been there at least since I was around two years old.  Maybe around 10 or
so years after stopping to read this ish, the stone was gone - and with it, yet another part of
my cherished childhood, alas

TODAY, I P-P-PICKED UP A PENGUIN (BOOK OF COMICS)...

Cover illustration by Alan Aldridge

Way back in the early '70s, I recall sitting in the Norfolk Restaurant in my home town with a friend, browsing through The PENGUIN BOOK Of COMICS - the original 1967 version, not the 1971 revised edition.  I'd borrowed it from my local library and, many, many years later, I bought that actual book from them in one of their regular clear-outs of old stock. It was a little beat-up when I acquired it (doubtless the reason why they dispensed with its services), but I still have it today. 

This morning, however, I took receipt of a far better condition copy, the cover of which is shown above.  When this book was first being prepared, the publishers (PENGUIN, obviously) managed to secure permission from NATIONAL PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS to use the image of SUPERMAN on the cover.  They described in precise detail just how the cover was going to look, a deal was struck and the book was then published.

However, when NPP (now known as DC COMICS) saw it, they weren't too happy and returned the cheque, demanding ten times more than they'd originally agreed to.  Penguin refused, explaining that they hadn't deviated from their initial cover description and sent the cheque back, only for it to be returned yet again.  Not one for giving up easily, Penguin once more sent the cheque to the States, only to hear nothing of the matter from that point on.  What's more, the cheque was never cashed - perhaps Superman, champion of the oppressed, had a word with his publishers.

When the book was reissued in 1971, a brand-new cover was produced and all the DC Comics illustrations used in the previous edition were excluded and replaced with MARVEL COMICS art.  As you can see, I've included the new cover here so that you can compare them both.

Anyway, just thought I'd show off the latest edition to my bookshelf, which I acquired for a mere £1.20.  (The book, not the bookshelf.)  Wotta bargain, I'm sure you'll agree.

Cover illustration by Bob Smithers, based on a design by George Perry

The beat-up library copy - purchased for 65p in 1994

The 1989 reprint of the '71 edition

DRAWING A TEDDY BEAR? IT'S A PICNIC...

The first thing I remember ever drawing was a teddy bear.  It was a photo of a 'special offer' teddy on the back of a packet of KELLOGG'S CORN FLAKES, back in 1964.  I carefully cut out the teddy and smuggled him into school one day in my satchel.  I was 15 at the time - - and, yes, you're right, I'm pulling your leg about my age.  Just checking to see if you're paying attention.

Actually, I was only 5, which some people may consider as still too old to be interested in teddies, but this was 50 years ago remember, when kids were kids and not the chain-smoking, binge-drinking, coke-snorting, sex-obsessed, violent little hooligans they seem to be today.  Anyway, using the cardboard cut-out as a stencil, I drew around it and recorded the outline on a sheet of paper.  Then it occurred to me that it would be a simple enough task to supply the details within the outline, which was composed mainly of circles.

I then realised that the head, ears, body, arms and legs, likewise consisted of circles, and that I could easily draw them without recourse to the 'stencil'.  Voila!  I drew Ted quite a few times before graduating to other subjects.  After all, drawing something seemed to be a simple matter of copying shapes in front of you onto a piece of paper, which I found an easy enough thing to do.

So, whaddya know!  Next thing I knew, I'd developed a bit of a reputation for being a 'good drawer'.  Incidentally, the ted at the top of this post is a stand-in.  The original's arms didn't extend quite so far from his body.  Still, cute little fella, eh?

PUTTING THE CHEF IN THE PICTURE...

Back when I was a full-time professional comics contributor, I dined out every evening at various local eateries.  In one of those establishments, the head chef was an English chappie named STEVE, and one night he asked me if Id do a caricature of him that he could give as a present to his mother whom he was shortly due to visit in his home town.  If I recall correctly after all these years, he sat at my table while I drew a preliminary pencil pic, which I then took home, copied onto an A4 sheet then inked and also coloured.  (But not before I'd made a photocopy of the black and white original.)

I saw him on his return and he told me his mother was extremely pleased with the pic, but he then said something which quite startled me.  Apparently, his two young nephews had visited his mother during his stay and recognised my name.  He confirmed to them when asked that I was indeed the very Robson who contributed to 2000 A.D., which happened to be their favourite weekly comic, and they were well-impressed that one of THARG's droids ate in the actual restaurant in which their uncle worked.

Even though I was merely bathing in the reflected glory of 'the galaxy's greatest comic', I was fair chuffed that two strangers who lived hundreds of miles away even knew who I was - and I was even more pleased when Steve told me that they had asked him to inform me that I was their favourite lettering artist.  Anyway, I didn't charge Stevie-boy for his caricature, but I got a couple of free meals out of it as a 'thank you' for my efforts.

And, in a way, I'm still 'dining out' on that pic today, as you've all just read for yourselves.