SUMMERTIME...

I remember seeing this on the PARKINSON

show back in 1980.  Absolutely brilliant!

MOONRAKER TRAILER...

MOONRAKER comes in for a certain amount of flack from some fans, but it was a natural progression for the BOND movies, which had started to reflect the cinematic tastes of the times.  For example, LIVE & LET DIE echoed 'blaxploitation' movies, The MAN With The GOLDEN GUN tipped its topper towards KUNG FU films, The SPY Who LOVED ME dived into the deep in the wake of JAWS - and Moonraker launched into outer space after STAR WARS. Plus SHIRLEY BASSEY sung the title theme.  So what's not to like?

Incidentally, I don't recall the trailers lasting this long in my local cinema.  Weren't they much quicker.  Anyone remember?

BABE Of The DAY - BRIGITTE BARDOT...

Words?  You want words?

It's BRIGITTE BARDOT, man!

 Who's got time for words?

SUPER DC - HISTORY Or MYSTERY...?

SUPERMAN and related characters copyright DC COMICS

I've read that SUPER DC came out in June 1969 and lasted to July of 1970.  That may be true (in some parts of the country anyway), but it's not the whole story.  When I bought issue #1, one of the trio of free gifts was a 'wristwatch calendar', consisting of three adhesive strips (one month on each) to be applied to the strap of one's watch.  The months on my calendar labels were November and December 1970, and January 1971.  Not that they were any good to me, because I didn't wear a watch then, nor do I wear a watch now.  However, this fact tends to indicate that, at least in Scotland, the first issue didn't go on sale until September or October of '70 at the earliest.

So what's the scoop?  You're asking me?  I can only speculate, but here's what may have happened.  The comics were tried out in England first, and unsold copies were then distributed to the rest of the U.K. at a later date.  This would explain why all 14 issues bore the price of 1/- (one shilling) even after decimalisation on February 15th 1971.  In some (but not all) cases, issues on sale after this date had a 5p sticker covering  the old price.  Or perhaps there was some kind of nationwide delay between publishing and distribution, and the main reason that people think the comic came out in 1969 is because of the price and the copyright date in the indicia.

There's evidence to suggest that issue #1 (at least) was reprinted, as the indicia is different in two copies I have in my collection.  Take a look at page 39 (above) and spot the difference between both versions.  (Click to enlarge for a better view.)  I suppose this could perhaps merely be as a result of the NATIONAL PERIODICALS copyright attribution being added during a pause in the print run when it was noticed it was missing, but that wouldn't explain why the comics are also slightly different sizes.  So it's anyone's guess as to the true history of this U.K. reprint monthly, published by TOP SELLERS and edited by MICK ANGLO (who also illustrated some covers and text stories).  If you think you can help clear up this minor mystery, feel free to chip in your two cents (or pence) worth in the comments section.