CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!: SMASH! COVER GALLERY

Sunday, 6 April 2014

SMASH! COVER GALLERY - PART FIVE...

I'd imagine that American readers aren't much interested in U.K. comics they've never read (or even heard of), but British readers of a certain age are bound to get a big thrill at seeing the covers of one of the fondly-remembered comics of their childhood - SMASH! Looking again at these covers takes me back to an earlier era, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds himself recalling days of long ago as though they were only yesterday upon sight of these images from the 1960s.

At 40 pages per weekly issue, with each page containing twice the content of a U.S. comicbook, Smash! was certainly great value for money at a mere 7d (about 3 and a half pence in decimal currency). If only such days could come again, and Great Britain could once more revel in a thriving comics industry, as opposed to the rather lacklustre remnant we have today.

If you've any thoughts on the matter, or any personal reminiscences about Smash! (like wistful recollections of a specific cover), then the Criv-ites comments section is waiting to hear from you. Come on now - don't be shy!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: I'm not old enough to remember this comic but the last cover made me smile as one of my father's favourite sayings was "the 7th Cavalry have arrived" whenever the good guys turned up to save the day on a TV show. I never really knew who he was referring to.; 6 April 2014 at 21:34
Kid said...: Not that it did them much good at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, CJ. I think the 7th Cavalry could've done with the assistance of the other six.; 6 April 2014 at 22:17
baab said...: I have no memories of this comic.
But wait a minute what is that ad for?
Letraset super action transfers.
I loved those.
And I recall the packs came in larger sizes too.
Oh my poor synapses are lighting up!; 6 April 2014 at 23:24
Kid said...: I don't think Letraset do these rub-down transfers any more, Baab (apart from letters), which is a great shame. I remember them too.; 6 April 2014 at 23:30
B Smith said...: Do Letraset even do rub-down lettering anymore? I'd have thought that would have been obsolete by the coming of desktop publishing...

And that Enterprise in the Star Trek Badges ad looks a little, er, off model I believe they say these days.; 7 April 2014 at 03:51
Kid said...: I think the Art Store in Glasgow that I use still has rub-down letters, BS, but as to whether they're by Letraset or not, I'm unsure.

Yeah, the Enterprise top is certainly dodgy, but that's a good painting of Spock.; 7 April 2014 at 11:25

About the artist:

From 1985 to 2000 A.D. (little joke there), I contributed to a variety of high profile comics and magazines for various companies.

For IPC/FLEETWAY/EGMONT, I freelanced as a lettering and logo artist on various weekly comics and monthly magazines, and also as a resize comic artist and spot illustrator on pocket books, summer specials and annuals.

For MARVEL U.K., BLACK LIBRARY, REDAN and USBORNE BOOKS, I again freelanced as a lettering artist, also working as a restoration artist for MARVEL U.S., restoring and re-creating certain pages of JACK KIRBY art for their MARVEL MASTERWORKS editions.

I also lettered the MARVELMAN sample pages submitted to MARVEL U.S. when they were considering acquiring the character, which - as we all now know - they DID.

Supplied comic strips, cartoons and illustrated advertisements for local business campaigns and newspaper publication on a professional basis since the age of 16. Did my first paid art job for publication at 14 or 15 for Lanarkshire Education Board.

Have also made TV appearances as a collector of memorabilia.

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Just some of the titles I worked on are:

2000 A.D. * JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE * DICEMAN * SONIC The COMIC * JUDGE DREDD, LAWMAN Of The FUTURE * CRISIS * REVOLVER * EAGLE * TIGER * BATTLE ACTION-FORCE * BUSTER * WHIZZER & CHIPS * WHOOPEE * NIPPER * SCHOOL FUN * ACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE * The REAL GHOSTBUSTERS * DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE * COUNT DUCKULA * RUGRATS * The TRANSFORMERS * DEATH'S HEAD * THUNDERCATS * GALAXY RANGERS * DRAGON'S CLAWS * SINDY * MARVEL MASTERWORKS * The TROLLS * LOADED * INFERNO * WARHAMMER * ROSE BLACK.

Copyright Notice:

Images remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are used here only for the purpose of review, promotion, and nostalgia.

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In the case of images culled from my own collection where copyright of an item isn't mine, I impose no copying restrictions on fellow bloggers.

(Although, if you don't allow copying on your own site, then you really shouldn't be copying from others, should you?)

And while you can credit this blog if you like, it's not mandatory. Who has time to make notes of every casually visited site during an idle browse of the internet?

In the case of anyone copying images of my own artwork and calligraphy, I affirm my right to be identified as the creator, and any such copying should not be for the purpose of monetary or material gain. (Unless it's mine.)

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Please also note that this blog is not sponsored by, affiliated with, or connected to, any organisation, business, or group, and is wholly independent.