KLASSIC CHRISTMAS KOMIC KOVERS - THOR & THE X-MEN #37...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

As far as I can remember, no British MARVEL mag of the '70s and '80s followed the U.K. tradition of having snow on the cover masthead before THOR & The X-MEN #37 was published, so this one's a collectors' item on that basis alone.  And having ICEMAN's head in the corner was another n-ice touch for a winter issue, don'tcha think?

(If I'm mistaken and there was a U.K. Marvel mag prior to this one with snow on the masthead, then let me know, frantic ones!)

BABE Of The DAY - JENNIFER BEALS...

Seriously sexy JENNIFER BEALS

makes her Crivens debut today, readers,

and all I can say is - "I'm in luuurve!"

KLASSIC CHRISTMAS KOMIC KOVERS - FANTASTIC #46...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

It's still within the Festive period, so here's the cover of the Christmas issue of one of the all-time great comics of yesteryear - FANTASTIC!  It was just over halfway through its short lifespan at this point, but readers weren't aware of that at the time.  In fact, it's unlikely that publishers ODHAMS PRESS knew either.

And look at the pic below: MARVEL, DC, and Odhams characters all on the one page.  Such a thing probably couldn't happen today, so savour this classic moment from 1967.

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS, DC COMICS, & relevant owner

SANTA CLAUS CAME TO TOWN - AND STAYED...

It was 1972 or '73, getting on towards Christmas.  I'd just acquired two different Santa 'cake toppers' from a shop called W. & R. HOLMES, which was one of the absolute best shops in my local town centre.  One of the Santas was on skis and was identical to one once given to me by a neighbour (ROBERT BAIRD) two or three years before when I lived in a different house in another area.

The second Santa was smaller and, unlike the other, was more of a 'cartoon'-type figure.  I had them both for a relatively short time before they vanished into the limbo that inevitably claims most items from our youth.  In 1977, a mere 4 or 5 years later, but seeming like a lifetime (after all, I'd gone from schoolboy to working man in that time), I obtained a replacement for that second Santa in a local shop (R. S. McCOLL's) across from where I worked.

When I was in Portsmouth in 1978 to be best man at a then-friend's wedding, I saw the same Santa in a newsagent's and bought it for my pal.  Why?  Because he'd been with me when I got the two Santas from W. & R. Holmes on that Saturday morning back in the early 1970s so it somehow seemed fitting (even though he probably didn't remember it).  Whether he kept it or not I have no idea, but I still have my 1977 replacement and it's been part of the Christmas decorations every year since then.  (That's 40 Christmases in case you're counting.)

So, in yet another self-indulgent fit of sentimental reminiscing, I decided to give you the backstory just so I'd have an excuse to show a photograph of that little Santa.  As you'll have guessed by now, that's him at the top of this post.  It takes me right back to that crisp Saturday morning in the early 1970s just looking at him.  Long may it be so.

Have you got an old Christmas decoration that you'd never part with?  Go on - tell us all about it.  

BABE Of The DAY - KELLY BROOK...

I think all cars should be fitted

with KELLY BROOK-shaped airbags.

Why?  'Cause crashing your car wouldn't

 be quite as awful as you'd expect.

SNOWMAN IN A COOL TIN BOX...

Remember when houses once had a floor-to-ceiling cupboard in the kitchen that served as a larder?  The kitchen of the house in which I now live used to have one, but it was removed when the property was refurbished back in the mid-1980s, when my family and myself were living somewhere else.  When we returned over four years later, the larder was gone.  Y'know what?  I miss it - it somehow gave the kitchen character.

In this larder used to be a tin, on the lid of which was a picture of a little boy sitting on a raft* in the middle of a river.  Beside the boy was a dog - a Scottie, I think.  The lad may've been HUCKLEBERRY FINN or TOM SAWYER, but he was definitely in that mould.  I wish I could find a replacement for that tin, as even just thinking about it returns me to a long-vanished era.

This tin (a biscuit tin) used to reside in a drawer in the kitchen of my previous house, and also, I'm sure, the kitchens of the two homes before that.  Then, I merely took it for granted, but in this house, it acquired the status of a link to my childhood, which is sort of what happens to most items that lay around for any length of time.  At first, they're just there and we're only dimly aware of them, but eventually, we somehow come to notice them more and grow to cherish them.

At least, that's how it is with me.  Like a lot of things, the tin eventually disappeared, and I have no idea how long it was after it's disposal before I first noticed its absence.  However, the tin is not the central point of this post; no, it's a little chalk 'snowman' that, after a few years as a Christmas decoration, was consigned to the tin when he eventually became a little the worse-for-wear.  That was the old tin's purpose you see - to store various items 'til they were required again (if ever).

Close to 30 years ago, I saw the snowman's twin in JOHN MENZIES, amongst an array of 'cake-toppers' on a shelf, and immediately snapped him up.  Like the tin, I can no longer recall (if I ever even knew) when the original vanished, but it may have been around the same time as the tin, which could've been the mid-to-late '70s.  So whenever I look at that snowman today, I'm reminded of past Christmases in four houses, as well as the tin which I'd dearly like to own again.

If you happen to have one of these tins, get in touch if you'd consider selling it.  That's the snowman at the top of the post, although, as he's got a flesh-coloured face, maybe he's meant to be an Eskimo kid in a snowsuit for all I know.  Anyway, I just felt like a bit of shameless reminiscing, so hopefully you'll forgive my self-indulgence.  Is there anything you miss from your youth that you'd like to own again?  (Aside from your youth, obviously.)  Tell your fellow Criv-ites.

******

(*Update:  And below is a picture of the tin.  As you can see, it's not a raft - it's a washtub, but I was right about the rest.  And thanks to eBay, I now own four of them in two different sizes.)