CRIVEN'S CLASSIC COMIC COVERS: THE EAGLE HAS LANDED... WELL, MORE LIKE BEEN BROUGHT DOWN TO EARTH...

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Above is the cover of the first combined issue of LION & EAGLE, dated 3rd May 1969.  The week before had seen Eagle's final solo issue, though there seems to be some ambiguity as to precisely what number it was - either 987 or 991.  You'd think the 'powers-that-be' would've let it reach it's 1,000th issue, eh?  Alas, 'twas not to be, and after a long run of just over 19 years*, Eagle was no more, relegated to a supporting act (with second billing) to the comic that had been created to directly compete with it.  

Lion may have won that particular circulation battle, but ultimately it lost the war when, a mere 5 years later, it was subsumed by VALIANT, which compared to Eagle and Lion, was a relative newcomer, having first appeared in 1962.  Valiant didn't have long to go itself, being merged into BATTLE in 1976, thus breaking the last link in the chain connecting back to MARCUS MORRIS's and FRANK HAMPSON's vanished dream.

A new version of Eagle took flight in 1982, but although it managed to survive (barely) into 1994, it was never the comic that its predecessor had been.

(*Strange to think that WHIZZER & CHIPS [launched in October '69] surpassed Eagle's run by two years, but doesn't seem to be regarded with the same iconic reverence as DAN DARE's weekly home.)

ONE For SORROW, TWO For JOY - THREE For A 'FULL' SET...

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One thing I've noticed as I've grown older is that things that didn't particularly mean anything to me when I was younger have now taken on a significance I couldn't possibly have foreseen.  For example, the kids TV show MAGPIE was one that I watched occasionally (probably to drool over SUSAN STRANKS and, later JENNY HANLEY), but I'd hardly describe it as classic television.  The BBC's BLUE PETER on the other hand, sometimes could be, and with the likes of a full-size, real-life ACTION MAN in the form of JOHN NOAKES risking life and limb for our entertainment, it was certainly superior to its THAMES TV rival, which was naught but a pale imitation.

So I surprised myself when I saw a Magpie Annual several years back and promptly bought it.  It was the second Annual in the series, and as the years passed, I found myself wanting to obtain the first and third to sort of complete the 'trilogy'.  Not that there were only three (11, I think), but I have this habit of wanting at least the first three of a series, even when I know I'm not going to continue with it.  It's an offshoot to me of the first three issues of a new comic traditionally being free gift issues (which I'd always buy), and I've tended to apply that to Annuals too - even though they're usually 'giftless'.  (There have been exceptions in recent years.)

Anyway, at the beginning of the week I bought the first and third Magpie Annuals from eBay, which arrived yesterday (Saturday morning) so my collection of them is now complete as I doubt I'll ever purchase any of the subsequent ones.  One of the later presenters was a fellow called MICK ROBERTSON, and I note that he's listed as a researcher in Books 2 & 3, which at least meant he had a foot in the door when a new presenter was required.  Reminds me a bit of ALIAS SMITH & JONES in that, when actor PETE DUEL committed suicide, ROGER DAVIS, who voiced the show's intro, replaced him in the role of HANNIBAL HEYES.

Anyway, if you'd like to see what sort of contents these Annuals contained, click here, and you'll be taken to "one I made earlier" (to nick one of rival BP's 'catchphrases'), but in the meantime, you'll have to content yourselves with the first three covers.  Even though I was never a regular viewer of Magpie (which was broadcast from 1968-1980, only 12 years), I now derive a poignant pleasure in owning these books, as they remind me of (and connect me to) a far earlier, more carefree time in my life.  Is it the same for you with anything?  Do tell.