The FISH 'N' MONKEY - GOOD NAME For A PUB PERHAPS...?

Well that was quick!  No sooner ordered than delivered (or so it seems), above is my new smoking monkey, along with a fortune-telling fish.  My original monkey could've been grey, brown, or green (can't remember), but this blue one was the cheapest option and the fish came with it - a two-for-one purchase.  The monkey comes with only two cigarettes, so I won't be letting him smoke them.  Packets of extra cigarettes are available, but I didn't get this toy to play with, only to look at - and remember the one I had as a kid.  Aside from forgetting the colour, it's exactly as I recollect from my youth, so it's good to have.

REVIEWS From The FLOOR Of 64 - It's SIMPLY PAST PERFECT...

Images copyright relevant and respective owners

As far as I recall, none of the Power Comics had a Summer Special - apart from one.  Or maybe it was three-in-one, as the masthead contained a trio of names of the surviving PCs - Smash!, Pow!, and Fantastic.  It also has a cover blurb declaring itself as 'the best of Fantastic, Smash and Pow weekly'.  However, Fantastic's name had prominence and even if it was intended to represent three comics, it certainly seems to be the one and only Special ever released in connection with the weeklies.

If you're in the unfortunate position of not owning this great reminder of a vanished age, the next best thing is perhaps Reviews From The Floor Of 64 Special #2 (above), which takes a fairly detailed look at this almost legendary 1968 Summer Special.  It examines the content, and reproduces the cover and pin-ups, so by the time you've finished reading it, you'll think you own the comic even if you don't.

This second 64 Special was first published back in 2011, but is yet readily available from pd.ware@hotmail.co.uk - as well as loads of other back issues and Specials.  Entertainingly and interestingly written, it's probably the best 'fanzine' I've ever read (going by the few issues I've got) and it gives some of the more 'professional' mags devoted to such subjects a good run for their money - and even wins the race I'd say.  So forget the mags you see on the shelves of WHS, buy one (or more) of this fanzine instead.

One of the more recent issues (now calling itself Past Perfect), below, covers just about everything by way of comics, TV shows, and movies - from Star Trek, Daredevil, The Time Travellers, The Silver Surfer, Timeslip, The Mighty World Of Marvel, Mister Miracle, She-Hulk, TV Century 21, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent Noman, Marvel Team-Ups, and TV Tornado, it's 80 A5 pages of sheer nostalgia heaven.  With full colour throughout (the only exception being images that were originally in b&w), it's more than worth £3 - grab it while you can!

POPEYE THE TRAIN DRIVER MAN...

Copyright relevant owner

I've mentioned my deteriorating memory before, so it'll come as no surprise to you that although I remember having the above 1972 Popeye Holiday Special back in the day, I can no longer recall precisely which house I was living in at the time.  We flitted halfway through June of that year, so it could've been either my old house or the new one I was in when I first bought this mag.  Not that it matters to you, but I'm somewhat irked by my inability to recollect exactly where I was living when I purchased it.

(Perhaps I bought it not too long before flitting and it came to our new house with me, which is why I can't nail it down to one over the other.)

I was fascinated by the cover when I saw it, as there was something about its pristine newness that appealed to me.  The replacement copy I received yesterday isn't quite in the same category condition-wise, but it's good enough to remind me of what it was about it that enthralled me in 1972.  So that's another item from yesteryear ticked off the list, time to move on to the next one in my search.  (I'll let you know what it is when it occurs to me.)

In the meantime I thought I'd show you a few pages from this Special, which probably wouldn't be allowed today as some humourless harpies would decry them as sexist.  And perhaps it could be argued that they are, but I see a great deal of observational truth in them.  And anyway, women make sexist comments about men all the time, but that's okay it seems, as it's only men that get pulled up for it because, as we all know, all guys are b@st@rds.

Anyway, whether you agree with me or not (it isn't mandatory), enjoy these few pages of Popeye.  Click to enlarge if necessary.  Incidentally, the disparity between the shades of grey from page-to-page is nothing to do with me - that's the way they were printed in the Special.  I assume they were originally in colour, and some have withstood the change to 'greyscale' better than others.