CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!: THE PHANTOM VIKING - PART TWO OF LION ANNUAL 1968...

Thursday, 24 April 2014

THE PHANTOM VIKING - PART TWO OF LION ANNUAL 1968...

Just who did they think they were kidding? The PHANTOM VIKING, who first appeared in CHAMPION in 1966, was obviously a stand-in for MARVEL's The MIGHTY THOR. When Champion folded, the wing-helmeted wonder (Vikey, not Thor) moved over to LION when the two comics merged in June of '66, and appeared there until '68.

The Phantom Viking had super-strength and the power of flight when he donned the helmet of his ancestor, LARSEN The LIBERATOR, but if the helmet fell off or the south wind blew, he returned to his frail mortal identity of OLAF LARSEN, meek and mild school teacher at WOODBURN SCHOOL.

Thor would've kicked sand in Vikey's face and left him sobbing on the beach, but the strip was a bold attempt to imitate the thunder god and avoid paying the copyright fee, even if such a blatant rip-off was a poor second for the real thing. So, let's give Olaf a hearty cheer as we wave him on his way; he was no DON BLAKE (then again, neither was Don), but at least he did his best for the two years his strip managed to run.

Don't miss part three - coming whenever I'm stuck for anything better to write about.

2 comments:

John Pitt said...: I think this is a quite endearing British attempt at imitatation, in much the same way as Marvelman was. Another Thor immitation was Charlton's Son Of Vulcan, but it didn't last for many issues.; 25 April 2014 at 13:25
Kid said...: Marvelman was really more a case of outright plagiarism, JP - necessitated, I suppose, by Fawcett giving up the ghost and L. Miller having to find a replacement PDQ. With the Phantom Viking, it (arguably) wasn't so all-encompassing in imitating Marvel's Thor concept. I remember seeing Son of Vulcan on the spinner-racks, but I don't think I've ever read any.; 25 April 2014 at 15:06

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.