CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!: PART FOUR OF BIG BEN - THE THING COVER & IMAGE GALLERY...

Saturday, 30 August 2014

PART FOUR OF BIG BEN - THE THING COVER & IMAGE GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Alas, DONALD DOGFLY makes his last two appearances in this latest The THING Is BIG BEN Cover & Image Gallery. Drawn by HUNT EMERSON, I don't think Donald has appeared anywhere since. It would be interesting to learn who currently owns the copyright, as it would be nice if Hunt could revive the character.

Looking back, the comic wasn't too bad, but the name was a bit naff and the masthead wasn't exactly eye-catching or memorable. It's interesting to speculate as to whether the mag would've enjoyed greater success if it had been called something else - like, I dunno - POWERHOUSE, or something along those lines.

Now there's an idea! See if you can come up with some good names for U.K. MARVEL mags that might've resonated better with the readers. Go on - you know where the comments section is!

6 comments:

John Pitt said...: I wasn't keen on Blockbuster as a title for a marvel comic, perhaps simply calling it "Thor " would have been better for its lifespan? I don't think I could improve on any other titles.; 30 August 2014 at 22:50
Kid said...: I'm not sure I even remember Blockbuster, JP. Any more details?; 31 August 2014 at 18:25
John Pitt said...: You probably blinked and missed it in 1980 - a short- lived monthly around the same time as Madhouse. It featured Iron Fist, Inhumans and Omega, but by far the best issue was the winter special starring Thor( should have been the main star from the start!) with a beautiful hand-painted cover.; 31 August 2014 at 18:28
Kid said...: I looked it up, JP, and 'though I seem to remember seeing Omega in b&w, I don't recall the actual comic. Having said that, it wouldn't surprise me to find it lurking in my collection somewhere.; 31 August 2014 at 18:28
John Pitt said...: With regard to this comic, I find it a sad one, as it reminds me of a time in Marvel UK's history when all their comics and mags were merging into nothing. Bleak years were ahead. The only Marvel titles were licensed ones, 2000 AD had morphed into something I didn't understand ( apart from Dredd ), so I turnedy my attention towards Viz and all the "Viz-alikes" ( excellently covered by Two-Headed Boy and Lee Turnock on their blogs!! ). Yeah, I know some of them were pretty dire, but I collected 'em anyway. After all, a comic collector's got to get his "fix" somewhere, hasn't he?; 4 September 2014 at 13:50
Kid said...: Indeed he has, JP - which is why I was buying Scream! and Eagle and various Marvel comics and Christmas issues of The Beano, Dandy, Beezer and Topper. I never really got into Viz and its many clones.; 4 September 2014 at 14:09

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.