RECOMMENDED READING: SUPERMAN IN THE '70s...

Images copyright DC COMICS

SUPERMAN In The '70s is one in a series of books covering different decades in the Man of Steel's comicbook career.  It was published in 2000, but may well still be in print.  If not, eBay or Amazon might be able to accommodate you, should you decide you just have to add it to your collection.  Check your local comicbook store first, though, as they may still have copies in stock.  Give 'em a try!

  

HAVE YOU GOT AN OLD CHRISTMAS CARD?

Christmas is the season for sentiment, and

you can't get more sentimental than this particular

song.  So sit back and relax, and let the man whose

voice is like the echo of a whisper wash away your

troubles with this soothing little number.

RECOMMENDED READING: CAPTAIN MARVEL - THE 'COMPLETE' COLLECTION...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Okay, strictly speaking, this new MARVEL softcover collected edition of CAPTAIN MARVEL isn't really complete, in that it doesn't reprint every Captain Marvel story ever published.  It does, however, contain all the issues produced by JIM STARLIN, which is nothing to be sniffed at.  Just read the spiel on the back cover, then get yourselves straight over to your nearest comicbook store and buy one today!

******

(Incidentally, the quality of reproduction in this volume is far superior to that of the 1990 softcover book, The LIFE And DEATH Of CAPTAIN MARVEL, so it's worth buying for that fact alone.  Well, just what're you waiting for??!)

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - JULIE EGE...

"C'mon in, the water's lovely!" says divine

JULIE EGE.  She's not fooling me though - she

only wants me to find the soap and then scrub her

back.  Er, wait a sec - that's hardly a chore, is it?

"Okay, count me in - make room, Julie!"

The POWER Of The DALEKS...

DR. WHO copyright BBC TV.  The DALEKS copyright BBC TV and the Estate of TERRY NATION

Someone I know very kindly gave me the new DOCTOR WHO DVD, The POWER Of The DALEKS recently.  The master tapes were wiped in the '60s & '70s, but the soundtrack to each episode somehow survived.  Cue some bright spark suggesting utilising animation to resurrect the episodes for modern-day viewing.  Great idea, woeful execution, alas.

Sadly, the animation isn't much better than an episode of CAPTAIN PUGWASH. So far I've watched the special features disc and the first episode of the actual serial, but the BBC should really have put more money into the project as it's painfully obvious that it was produced on an extremely limited budget.  So just what's wrong with it?

What isn't?  The accompanying booklet is riddled with typos that render some sentences gibberish, and, on screen, there's no consistency between the sizes of POLLY and BEN.  Sometimes Ben is taller than Polly, sometimes it's the other way around, and sometimes they're both the same size.  You can actually see through the DOCTOR's coat to his shirt and braces underneath, and in one scene his left hand is several times the size of his right and can be seen through his body.

The animation is basic and jerky, the backgrounds static, with characters often facing in the wrong direction to what's supposed to be occurring the other way.  The animation in SCOOBY DOO is better, so that should give you all an idea of just how bad it is.  In one scene, the Doctor and his two companions are being kept in a room, and Ben and Polly are seen in"suitable clothing" - which hasn't yet been given to them at that point in the story.

Anyway, I'll persevere with the remaining episodes when my masochistic tendencies kick in again, but I may just book an appointment with the dentist instead.  Not quite one to avoid, because the documentary on the making of the programme is interesting, but don't expect PIXAR quality animation or you're bound to be disappointed.  Marks?  Only four out of ten, sadly.  Should've been  much better.