WELCOME TO MY WORLD - IT'S MIGHTY...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

The first Annual to spring from weekly comic The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL was simply titled MARVEL, and was issued in 1972 (for '73).  The next three books in the series were likewise so christened, following the pattern established by the first one.  It seems the initial choice of name for the weekly had been The WONDERFUL WORLD Of MARVEL, but this was eventually changed to 'Mighty' - though a feature in the Annual for '73 used the original description.  I suppose the final moniker was still in a state of indecision when the first book was being prepared, hence it plumping for the simple, single sobriquet to avoid confusing readers.

With the 1977 Annual (released in '76), its parentage was finally acknowledged, leaving potential buyers in no doubt as to the book's affiliation to the weekly periodical.  What took them so long?  For no other reason than that it's good to see them, here are the covers to the first three books to bear the name of the comic they sprang from.  My own view is that the comics and books were both Mighty and Wonderful, but that would've made the logo too long.

Do you remember what your first Marvel Annual was?  Leave a comment and share your reminiscence with the rest of us.

BABE Of The DAY - HEATHER THOMAS (AGAIN)...

They're being pulled the opposite

way to what I prefer, but HEATHER

THOMAS is still a 'babe'!  No?!  Then

you're a poof!  Back  to your knitting,

there's nowt for you here.

BLEEP & BOOSTER - FEELING BLUE, PETER...?

Images copyright relevant owner

"Everyone has a special memory of BLUE PETER.  What's yours?" is the question asked on the back of the book celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the BBC programme for children. My special memory is of BLEEP & BOOSTER, but it's clearly not one shared by the BBC itself - if the next-to-nothing coverage the duo received in the book's pages in 2008 is anything to go by.

RICHARD MARSON, editor of the programme for four years (and previously a producer), wrote the book, but apart from a brief mention ('Artist WILLIAM TYMIN drew the BENGO and Bleep and Booster stories...' - emphasis mine), there was no other evidence of their existence - no pics, no description, not even an entry in the index.

The author later explained to me in an email that there simply wasn't enough room in the book to include everything, but to children of the '60s, Bleep & Booster were/was Blue Peter.  That's the main reason why me and my brother watched it.  The atmospheric black and white illustrations, with zoom-ins (and outs) on the static art (as opposed to animation), the weird music, the well-spoken narrator - all these things added up to a memorable experience for less demanding and unspoilt kids of the time.

So, in an attempt to redress the balance, here's a story from the Bleep & Booster Annual for 1968, in an attempt to recapture the atmosphere of the space-spanning duo's adventures from an earlier and more innocent era.

50th Anniversary book, published in 2008

And, finally, here's a short clip - just to give you an even better taste of it.  Wonderful stuff, eh?  PETER HAWKINS provides the voices and narration.