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Hooray, just arrived today at Castel Crivens, two more great DC Facsimile Editions that all true comicbook fans will want in their collections - even if they already have the originals. First up, above, is the Collectors' Edition of Superman's battle with Muhammad Ali, which I passed on first time around in the '70s, though I subsequently acquired two hardback volumes (one Treasury-sized, the other slightly smaller) a few years back.
I notice there are no ads in the facsimile (despite a small-print note saying all ads are expired), which strikes me as odd, as the last story page is printed on the inside of the cover and I doubt it was the same in the original. I suspect it's because scanned ads don't look quite so good in this size of publication so DC decided to completely omit them. I'm basing this assumption on the earlier Ras Al Ghul Collectors' Edition facsimile, because the (in-house) ads in that were clearly scanned from a published original issue and the reproduction was less than stellar. Can anyone with the original Supes/Ali mag check and let me know if it had ads or not? Ta.
Next up, below, is Detective Comics #400, which I owned back in the day, but never kept. Although I have the main story in various reprints, it's good to own the next best thing to an original copy, and this facsimile fits the bill, especially as it also contains the back-up tale, which I don't think I've read since the '70s. Anyway, what are you all waiting for? Get straight 'round to your nearest comics speciality shop and plunk your pennies (well, pounds, actually) on the counter and experience again the thrill of your youth when you first read these two classics.
However, don't worry if you didn't on account of not being around at the time - you can buy them too! Enjoy! Comments welcome, Crivvies. (Are you listening, McS - I said Neal Adams!)
24 comments:
Oooh I might pick up the Ali facsimilie as I lost my original copy years ago. I still have my copy of Detective Comics 400 and I also have that tale in a few reprint/collections so will give it a miss.
The Ali facsimile is a perhaps a little pricey, but compared to what it would cost you for an original, it's a steal, McS.
I'm not 100% but I don't recall the Ali original having any ads, but i'm pretty sure the last page wasn't printed on the back cover.
I very much doubt it was, McS, so that means if any ads are missing, then it has fewer pages than the original. Still nice to have though.
Is that Jimmy Carter in the bottom-right corner of the Superman/Ali cover? Carter will be 100 years old on October 1st.
My local comics shop seems to have stopped selling new comics. All new comics are kept on shelves near the front window so I can easily see them if I'm passing by but the comics currently on display haven't been changed for a couple of months.
'Tis indeed Jimmy Carter, CJ. 100, eh? That's a good innings. Maybe your comics shop is about to go out of business, no doubt because you never buy any, ya buggah! Have you ever read the Supes/Ali Collectors' Edition? Not fancy it?
Yes, I have read the Superman vs Ali tale but I can't remember how or where because I didn't own the original Treasury Edition.
Did you know, Kid, that the classic comedy series PORRIDGE is 50 years old this week? The first episode was broadcast on September 5th 1974.
Neither do I, CJ. Maybe one day. Yes, I did know that, 'cos I read it in a newspaper yesterday. I even remember watching the pilot episode back in the day.
Kid, by the "pilot episode" do you mean the first episode of the official series in 1974 because there was also a one-off episode in 1973 featuring Fletcher, Mr Mackay and Mr Barraclough in which Fletcher is being transported to Slade prison but that episode wasn't actually called Porridge though nowadays it is considered to be the pilot episode.
The first episode of the regular series wasn't the pilot episode, CJ, it was the first episode of the regular series, which was commissioned because 'Prisoner And Escort' was deemed a success. Therefore, as the BBC were looking to make a series starring Ronnie Barker depending on which of seven different shows took off (Seven Of One), P&E was indeed the pilot episode.
Yes, that's what I meant. I couldn't remember the name of the pilot episode but I watched it for the first time on BBC iPlayer only three or four years ago.
What took you so long, CJ?
Because I don't think the pilot episode was shown on BBC TV again after its' original broadcast, was it? I didn't realise the pilot episode even existed until it turned up on BBC iPlayer.
It's been repeated a few times over the years, CJ, and available on video and DVD for yonks. I like the show, but the success of the pilot meant that viewers were denied a third series of Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads because the writers didn't have the time to work on both.
Well, I obviously missed all those repeats, Kid. As for Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads I think the series had probably run its' course anyway - the 1974 Christmas Special was a fine send-off for the TV series in my opinion and there was also the 1976 film of course.
Porridge had three series and a film, so WHTTLL should've had the same, says I. Same writers, same quality.
WHTTLL had only two series but each series contained 13 episodes so 27 episodes overall including the '74 Xmas special. Porridge had three series but only 6 episodes in each series so only 21 episodes overall including the pilot and two Xmas specials. WHTTLL had six more episodes overall than Porridge!
But, CJ, the Lads DESERVED more because it's my favourite comedy series. I always had the impression that Porridge had a lot more episodes - must be because they've been repeated so often. Remember also that Barker and Beckinsale reprised their roles in 'Going Straight', so that diverted the writers from another series of WHTTLL. Lads rule!
So do you prefer the '70s revival to the '60s original Likely Lads, Kid?
Yes. I don't recall seeing the '60 series in the '60s (though I may have caught an episode or two if my parents watched it), but I've got all the surviving ones on DVD. Some of them are quite good, but there was a different vibe about the show back then. The '70s series have got the three Ps - poignancy, pathos, and profundity, as well as being bloody funny.
There was also a 13-episode radio series of WHTTLL which gets repeated on BBC Radio 4-Extra every so often. I didn't know this series even existed until I started listening to Radio 4-Extra in 2011 and that's how I discovered other classic radio series such as The Goon Show, Hancock's Half Hour, Steptoe & Son and Dad's Army.
I heard a couple of the radio shows back in the '70s and again in the '90s, I think, CJ. I've got four episodes on BBC cassette tapes which purport to be 'The Likely Lads', but I think they're just the soundtracks from the '60s TV show. In the '70s radio shows of WHTTLL, if the original actors who appeared on the TV episodes weren't available, they used substitutes - though not with the main stars, obviously.
Picked up both of the facsimiles last week, Kid. My local shop sold me a single treasury-sized bag and board for the Supes/Ali book - it's great to have the book again after all these years. Ditto for 'Tec 400, which is one of my favourite comics in that I picked up the original for 2p back in 1974/75 from a second-hand shop, now long gone.
Good that you've got them, B. I've now got three versions of the Supes/Ali match; the deluxe hardback edition, another Treasury-sized hardback, and now the facsimile edition. I feel that I've now atoned for not buying the original when it was first published. Who knows though; maybe one day I'll acquire that one as well.
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