BABE OF THE DAY - CAROLINE MUNRO...

Sweet CAROLINE - what more

need be said but "Have her washed

and brought to my room"?  (In fact,

don't even bother 'bout washing her

 - she'll do fine just as she is.)

PART TWO OF PLANET OF THE APES COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright relevant owners

Ten more PLANET Of The APES covers from Mighty MARVEL's mid-'70s British weekly to enthrall you this time around, folks.  Not many of these images strike a chord with me, so I'm uncertain whether I was still buying the comic at this time, though I suspect I must've been.  Do any of these covers ring a bell in the belfry of your mind?  Then let's read your reminiscences in the comments section, Ape fans.

MARVEL'S THE SUPER-HEROES COVER & IMAGE GALLERY - PART SEVEN...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Only 15 issues to go until we reach the finish line of this particular race, faithful ones, so that equates as three more instalments in The SUPER-HEROES cover & image gallery.  The mag was probably past its best by this point, as The CAT was a bit of a second-rater and GIANT-MAN was hardly in The SILVER SURFER's league, but I stuck with it right to the end.  From my perspective, with The X-MEN and ol' High Pockets, the comic was a comforting amalgam of FANTASTIC and TERRIFIC, two of my favourite weeklies from the '60s, and that was more than good enough for me.

At one point, MARVEL U.K. actually considered reprinting Fantastic's The MISSING LINK/JOHNNY FUTURE strip, seemingly thinking that they owned the copyright to it.  That would've been brilliant to see again, and made the periodical even more like an ODHAMS 'POWER COMIC', but, sadly, it just didn't happen.  Nearly 50 years later, nostalgic readers are still waiting for a deluxe re-presentation of the late LUIS BERMEJO's awesomely illustrated artistic tour-de-force.  Maybe one day.  (Update: It happened in 2020.)

Anyway, enjoy this brief look back into yesteryear - and don't dare miss the remaining issues in upcoming posts.  Excelsior.

This page and the next were produced specially for British readers to bring them up to
speed on the history of GIANT MAN & The WASP and became pages 3 & 4 of the tale

Look at that first ad - surely the worst drawn & lettered one in existence

BABE OF THE DAY - PENELOPE CRUZ...

Here's a lady whose name is PENELOPE,

 so she must be Lady Penelope - er, I think.

PLANET OF THE APES COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

Images copyright relevant owner

Released at the same time as DRACULA LIVES, PLANET Of The APES lasted for 123 issues before merging with The MIGHTY WORLD of MARVEL for 16 issues, whereupon its masthead disappeared from the cover.  I read somewhere that the U.K. edition was so popular, the U.S. magazine was kept going just to supply its British counterpart with material.  (If anyone knows for sure, do tell.)

Anyway, here, mainly to keep regular commenter CJ happy, are the first 10 covers from the 1974 weekly periodical.  The TV show wasn't broadcast in Scotland at the time, so we weren't immediately aware that the mag was intended to tie in with a television programme.  Not that it made any difference to me, as I was buying every U.K. Marvel comic going back then anyway.  I even got a letter printed in #8.

And if Nifty NICK CAPUTO is paying attention, perhaps he'd do us all a favour and identify the cover artists.  Good lad, Nick - ta.

The poster free with issue #1

RUPERT COVERS & ENDPAPERS - PART FOUR...

Image copyright CLASSIC MEDIA/EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS

The frog chorus - ooh, lovely.  Apparently, it was this ALFRED BESTALL endpaper that inspired musician PAUL McCARTNEY to do his 1984/'85 RUPERT song and video.  (Just wish Rupert had been coloured brown in it though, instead of white.)  Might as well let you see and hear it, eh?