MARVEL ARTIST PAUL RYAN PASSES AWAY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

I've just learned that Peerless PAUL RYAN, artist of The FANTASTIC FOUR and countless other comics, passed away on Sunday at the age of 66.  I was mainly aware of his work from the FF, and I consider his five-year run on the title to be right up there (art-wise) with JOHN BYRNE's - and he (Paul) drew the sexiest SUSAN STORM ever, bar none.

Another light gone out, alas, but we shall remember him.

BABE Of The DAY - JORDAN CARVER...

That's a nice dress JORDAN

CARVER is almost wearing.  I'm

not complaining, it's just I don't want

her to catch a cold.  (Or find a bicycle

parked in her cleavage.)

LOOPY LAPSES In LOGIC - FANTASTIC FOUR #8...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Okay, so you all know the story.  The PUPPET MASTER lures The THING into his clutches via one of his radioactive clay figures, and is then surprised to find that SUSAN STORM has also turned up in his lair, having invisibly followed Ben there to see where he was going in his trance-like state.

Noticing that his step-daughter ALICIA bears an uncanny resemblance to Sue, he gets her to impersonate The INVISIBLE GIRL and then sends her back to the BAXTER BUILDING with Ben - as a "little prank" he says - but why?  What does it achieve, other than to send his step-daughter into possible danger?

As he later reveals, he had the 'foresight' to create a puppet of Sue, so why not just put her under his control and send her back to the Baxter Building with Ben?  In fact, why even bother doing that?  Why didn't he just put all four of them under his power and have the FF come to his apartment, where he could destroy them at his leisure?  Or just have them 'top' themselves in their skyscraper headquarters?

H'mm, one thing's for sure.  I'm either giving the matter far too much thought, or STANLEY and JACKSON didn't give it enough.  Which do you think it's likely to be?  (Be gentle with me.)

KEN REID'S DARE-A-DAY DAVY From POW! - PART SIX...

Copyright REBELLION

Seeing as how you've all been so well-behaved recently, I thought I'd reward you with another DARE-A-DAY DAVY strip by KEN REID, so here it is - from POW! #7, cover-dated March 4th 1967 - a staggering 49 years ago!  As to whether these strips were really based on readers' ideas or not, I suspect that most of them were figments of the writer's imagination.  After all, each ish was prepared at least two months in advance, so the first eight issues were done and dusted before #1 even went on sale.

Was your idea ever used, or do you know of anyone who submitted one and won a pound for their efforts?  (I'm talking to much older Criv-ites, obviously.)  Interestingly, MARC JUNG, who was the assistant editor of BUSTER in the mid-'80s, once admitted to me that they made many of their letters up, as they simply didn't receive enough of them to fill a page.  Perhaps Pow! was the same.  Anyway, don't worry too much about that, just enjoy Ken Reid's art at its lunatic best!  See you next time.