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| Copyright REBELLION |
Let's see now... there was PLASTIC MAN, The ELONGATED MAN, ELASTIC LAD and MISTER FANTASTIC - Americans all and proud of it, I'm sure. However, Britain also had its own stretchable crime-fighter in the form of The RUBBER MAN (rendered as one word, RUBBERMAN, in the strip, if not the title) who was every bit as flexible as his pals across the pond. (And let's not forget DCT's PING, The ELASTIC MAN, a 1930s humour strip which pre-dates them all.)
I can't say for certain who produced the strip you see in this post, but it may've been written by KEN MENNELL and possibly drawn by ALFREDO MARCULETA - if anyone knows for certain, feel free to chip in. This particular strip appeared in the 1968 SMASH! Annual and is typical of the kind of adventures in which bendy JIM HOLLIS found himself involved, in his quest to find a cure for his condition.
When I look back, Rubberman seems to have been a significant comic strip feature of my childhood. After the MARVEL reprints, ol' Rubby, along with RONNIE RICH, BAD PENNY and BATMAN, are the characters I most associate with the original Smash! However, I was surprised to read somewhere that the strip was in only eleven issues of the weekly comic - not counting the ones in the '68-'70 Annuals.
One day, I'll have to go through my back numbers and count the Rubberman strips for myself - eleven issues just doesn't seem right (or possible) somehow. Perhaps it was eleven separate adventures, each of which consisted of several episodes - that seems just a little more likely - anyone know for sure? It'd save me a crawl through the comics.
Anyway, in the meantime, enjoy this strip from the '60s. The plot may be a bit of a stretch, but it's sure to rub off on you!
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Many thanks, Kid. Not having had the annuals, I've never seen this strip before. Rubby was one of my favourite UK strips in Smash, along with Brian's Brain and I didn't discover any of the US stretchies till slightly afterwards. As for only eleven weeks, I would have bet money he was in for much longer than that. It just goes to show how time seems to travel much more slowly when you're a kid.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't sound right to me either, JP, but may be true. When I can be bothered, I'll dig through my back issues and count the strips. It could be that he was 'rested' after 11 issues and returned later. We shall see.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen this for over 45 years.....wonder what happened to my 1968 Smash annual?
ReplyDeleteI nicked it from you when you weren't looking. Don't worry, I've looked after it.
ReplyDeleteYou dont have his appearances from the smash weekly do you I am trying to collect them all
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have some single weekly issues in which Rubber Man appears, I also have Odhams bound file copies, which I can't open wide enough to scan without cracking the spines. I'm not at my best at the moment, so scanning loads of pages anyway is out of the question for now.
ReplyDeleteSorry you are not feeling well, no rush at all. The only pages I am missing are from smash weekly issue 37. I have scans of all the others so I only need 2 pages I think! I can let you have all the scans I have if you want. A photo of the pages would be enough if you cant scan them. I just want to see the missing pages in any form.
ReplyDeleteWhen I have the energy to dig through one of my cupboards, I'll see if I have #37 and if so I'll let you know here. Then you can send me your email address (which I won't publish) and I'll send you some scans (or photos).
ReplyDelete