Mr. HANDSOME...

                                             

                                                     I am the handsomest of men,
                                                     the ladies look, then look again;
                                                     I'm toned and fit, and tall and dark,
                                                     in my blue eyes resides a spark
                                                     which makes them tremble deep within
                                                     and lets me turn their hearts to 'sin'.
                                                     If truth be told, I'm quite a tease,
                                                     but women's eagerness to please -
                                                     to play the game of 'birds and bees'
                                                     and do their utmost to appease
                                                     my appetite for pleasures rare -
                                                     lets me perform with style to spare.

                                                     I am Adonis come to life,
                                                     all women wish to be my wife.
                                                     I conquer hearts with languid ease
                                                     and watch them buckle at the knees.
                                                     I laugh as their chins hit the floor
                                                     whenever I pass through a door.
                                                     E'en Sapphic slaves can't help but 'turn'
                                                     so filled with lust for me they burn,
                                                     their 'lady love' they all do spurn
                                                     and nevermore will they return
                                                     to their past wicked wanton ways,
                                                     such is the power of my gaze.

                                                     My skin is firm and tanned and smooth,
                                                     my honeyed words do serve to soothe
                                                     the fever in their lustful hearts,
                                                     pierced by cherubic Cupid's darts.
                                                     I cannot fail, I am God's gift
                                                     to women who require a 'lift'
                                                     to make them feel desired and young
                                                     by one so manly and well-hung,
                                                     who charms them with a silver tongue,
                                                     whose name and fame are so far-flung -
                                                     for me they'd all lay down and die...
                                                     and do so with a grateful sigh.

                                                     Who am I?  Why...

                                                     I'm Mr. Handsome.

AMAZING FANTASY #15 FACSIMILE EDITION - THE GOOD AND THE BAD...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

AMAZING FANTASY #15 Facsimile Edition is a nice little addition to the series, but I have to be honest and say it's not quite as good as it could be.  However, first let me tell you what is good about it.  The SPIDER-MAN strip, unlike many previous 'doctored' reprints, is reproduced from faithful source material, with none of the clumsy amendments, alterations, or restorations that earlier re-presentations suffered from.  (Update: Having now re-examined the pages and contrary to my earlier impression, the back-up tales are not derived from the same sources as the 1992 MILESTONE EDITION, being slightly sharper and less blurred.  However, to my eyes, the main strip still seems a tad superior in the reproduction stakes.)

SUE STORM making an 'appearance' in the ad's most recent incarnation?

What's more, for some curious (no doubt PC) reason, an image* has been omitted from one of the ads, and the indicia has been moved from the inside cover to under the splash page, leaving too large a space where it originally sat.  Also, the cover COMICS CODE stamp has been deleted, which I think is a step too far, as keeping it would help capture the 'spirit of the age' in which the mag first appeared.  Plus, the bar code box is too prominent - it could be smaller, as it was on the Facsimile Edition of FANTASTIC FOUR #1.

(*It transpires, after further research on my part, that this image appeared in some comics of the period but not in others, so it was actually missing in the original publication of this particular issue, not just in the facsimile.)

Perhaps it was felt that she was too full of 'adoration' in her manner,
but isn't that the whole point of the ad - to attract adoring women?

Those few gripes aside, I'd still recommend it, as it's the closest that most of us will come to ever owning anything resembling the original 1962 comic.  Pick one up as soon as you can, because these mags sell for at least twice the price on eBay once they're no longer available - sometimes even more.  And they'll become collectables in their own right that will further appreciate in value as time wears on.

Why not keep the (new) indicia where the original was, like in the
 Fantastic Four Facsimile Edition?  Why compromise its integrity? 

FAMOUS FIRST EDITIONS 'FRAUD'...

Copyright DC COMICS

The cover above comes from the interior of a FAMOUS 1st EDITION reprint of SUPERMAN #1 (though the comic itself was un-numbered), published by DC COMICS in the late '70s.  (The reprint that is, not the original.)  I eventually had a few copies of this issue (some sold without their cardboard covers by Glasgow news-vendors), and, inevitably, I cut one up to stick the cover and various panels on my bedroom wall.  (This was obviously before the days of home scanners and printers.)

That was nearly 40 years ago, and it was only around a year or so back that I replaced the faded, wrinkled, and mottled original with a brand new copy, printed from a scan of one of my two other issues of this mag which have been in my possession since almost as long as the one sacrificed to adorn my wall.  I was gazing at it earlier this evening when, from deep within the innermost recesses of my mighty mind, a memory was resuscitated, a recollection that I am now about to relate to you.

You've read about 'Bob Billens' on Crivens! before - or at least you have if you're a regular long-time reader.  That's not his real name, but it's close enough for anyone who knew him to recognise him should they read this.  As I've recounted before, I once worked in my local Central Library for about six months, where I met a summer worker who was also into comics.  That was Bob.  One day, he asked me if I'd seen this particular reprint, and I replied that I'd seen it advertised, but never laid either hands or eyes on an actual published copy.

Bob said he'd bring his copy in to show me, which he did a day or two later.  As I was leafing through it, I noticed that several pages near the back were creased in a sort of 'half-rip', the result of a fault in the ream of paper they were printed on.  I pointed this out to Bob, but he dismissed it as unimportant, as that was the way it had left the presses, it wasn't a later infliction.  Bob considerately offered to order one for me from his comics supplier in Bournemouth, so I duly handed across the cash and waited patiently for its arrival.  What a top bloke, I thought, going to all that bother on my behalf when he didn't have to.

When it arrived and was handed over, I noticed it had the exact same damage to the exact same pages as his copy and good-naturedly 'challenged' him about it.  "I see you've kept the copy I paid for and substituted your imperfect one for it," I said, but he denied it, and seemed a bit huffy at the suggestion - but it was an affected display of huffiness, not a genuine one, so it was obvious that he had indeed 'pulled a fast one'.  Now call me a thicko (woaaahh, not all at once), but it wasn't 'til sometime later that it occurred to me that his offer to procure me a copy was merely so that he could deliberately effect such a switch - it wasn't a later spontaneous decision.  Otherwise he'd simply have given me his supplier's address and let me order my own.

What a b@st@rd, eh?  Thing is, I couldn't prove the 'switcheroo', so had to let it slide or risk the friendship.  (Some friend, eh?)  I've always been a wee bit wary ever since of anyone volunteering to do me a 'favour', as I've found that, often, it's more themselves they're intent on doing a favour for, rather than me.  It's not always 'built-in' at the time like the event I've just described, it can be a later development.  You know, they'll offer to sub you a pound if you're short at the till when buying your shopping, then a week later, they're asking you for a loan of a tenner.  (Never seems to happen the other way around.)

So always beware someone offering to do something for you, seemingly out of the goodness of their heart.  Sometimes, of course, the offer can be completely genuine, but other times there's a catch - which may not be obvious to you at the time.  "There's no such thing as a free lunch!" is the old saying, and if I had a pound for every time I've found that to be true, I could dine like a king at least once a week.

Oh, and in case you're interested, below is the cardboard cover (front and back) to the reprint itself, which is a faithful facsimile except for its size.