THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF JONAS CLARKE...

Copyright REBELLION

Who in hell is JONAS CLARKE you ask?  Why, none other than JANUS STARK, escapologist extraordinaire, who made his dynamic debut in the first issue of the revamped SMASH! in 1969, and later escaped to VALIANT when the latter consumed the former in 1971.  You'll be glad to hear that Janus (must be hard, going through life with 'anus' as part of your name) is returning in a 48 page reprint collection available only through the 2000 A.D. and TREASURY Of BRITISH COMICS webshop, and can be pre-ordered from the 4th of this month (today) for availability from the 27th.

Hoorah!  Below is the first page from his very first adventure, followed by the cover of the issue he first appeared in.  (Three firsts in the one sentence - who else gives you so many firsts in a blog post?  And there's another two!)

CRIVENS CLASSIC COVERS - LOOK-IN ON AYSHEA...

Copyright relevant owner

Look at the question on the above 1973 cover of LOOK-IN - 'What's ROY WOOD doing with AYSHEA?'  Well, if the rumours about them dating at the time were true, that's not really a question that needed asking - it was pretty bloody obvious what he'd be doing with her - and she to him!  (What?  I'm only referring to kissing, you filthy-minded lot.)  Ayshea wrote for Look-In (or at least her name was used), so it's no surprise that her image should make an appearance on the cover as well.  Why the artist made her quite so gormless-looking is anyone's guess, but it's a nice painting.

SLAM, BLAM, THANK YOU, WHAM!

Copyright relevant owner

Yes, you're right - I've shown these pages before, but I'm sure they can stand another outing seeing as how they so aptly fit the theme of Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night.  Just think, 1966 was 53 years ago - amazing, eh?  If you weren't born then and are still ever such a young thing, you'll never know how much I resent the fact that some people have more life ahead of them than I have.  Well, you know now, but that's only because I've just told you.  However, that doesn't mean I wish ill on anyone younger than me, so if you're attending any firework festivities tomorrow, remember to be careful.  Have fun by all means, but make sure it's safe fun.