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Above is a comic mag I got a wee while back, mainly because the cover is based on that of the 1976 Fireside book Bring On The Bad Guys by Stan Lee (with a little help from a whole kaboodle of collaborators). Below is the original cover, though I have to say I like Dr. Doom's right hand on the new cover more than on the old one. That aside, it would probably be hard to distinguish between the two pieces of artwork from just a quick glance at them side-by-side if not for the mastheads. I haven't read the mag yet, so I'm undecided on whether I'll buy subsequent issues, though probably not. (I've had the book since I first bought it way back in the dim and distant days of the '70s.)
Next is a Golden Age-sized facsimile of Superman #1, though as the interior images are the same size as the standard reprints of this classic issue, I'm not sure why DC bothered. When they did Detective Comics #27 in this format, they scanned the interiors from a 1939 original, and apart from the price on the cover and the barcode on the back, the interiors looked pretty much as they did when the issue was initially published back in the '30s. The GA Action Comics #1 and Superman #1 contain brand-spanking new images with a huge margin around them. Whatever happened to consistency? Still worth having though.
Below is the second monthly ish of Panini's new Fantastic Four mag. I read #1 and #2 over the last few days and quite enjoyed them, though as yet remain undecided whether I'll continue with the title past the third issue. Time will surely tell.
Below is one I've been looking to acquire for quite a number of years now - Valiant & TV21 Summer Special for 1973. Can't remember whether I actually owned this one back in the day, but I might have done and that's good enough for yours truly.* Nabbed it at last, though I think I might already have it on a data disc somewhere, but if so, that was just a stopgap. Nothing beats the real thing. (*I know I had the Valiant & TV21 Summer Special for 1972 and I don't like having one without the other so I now own both of them.)
Been extremely tired recently, Crivs, and suffering from intense spasms of pain throughout my body, hence the dearth of posts on Crivens, but I'll try and do better in the weeks ahead. (Though if posts remain a bit sparse, you'll know why.) Can't get a doctor's appointment because whenever I 'phone, I get put on hold for half-an-hour, only to be informed that all the appointments have been allocated for the day, so to try again tomorrow. I've actually visited the surgery in person to see if I could see a doctor or arrange an appointment, but been told I'll have to 'phone for one. Absolutely disgraceful state of affairs, I'm sure you'd agree, but there's nothing I can do about it.
Apart from die from an undiagnosed illness, that is, but I'm hoping that isn't an option. Anyway, enjoy the covers. Got a favourite? Then say so you know where.
Kid - Doctors' surgeries' wall posters shame patients by numerically listing missed appointments each month. The usual spiel's receptionists telling you to ring every day, in case vacant slots arise (as you well know, from bitter experience.) Why couldn't the buggers simply ring you, themselves, when another patient fails to turn up for their appointment? ( But, by the time you'd arrive at the surgery, it would be time for the next patient, I suppose.) If explaining your pain's seriousness doesn't work, requesting the Practice Manager's the next option; then, failing that, kicking up a major stink might be necessary.( I know you'll have already considered this, but still...) Here's sending all best wishes, regardless.
ReplyDeleteBring On The Bad Guys' original cover is clearly the best of the bunch!
Phillip
I'll certainly have to do something soon, P, as I've not been right for the last two or three years and I'm getting worse. The last few blood tests I had many months ago didn't show anything wrong, but unless they're specifically looking for something, they won't spot it. In the last couple of years two of my pals have died from cancer and the doctors didn't spot that either until it was too late.
DeleteRomita was good!
I wonder why they commissioned another cover that was so similar to the original one for "Bring on the bad guys". I see that title has started again as a comic with the Abomination in the first issue. I had that Valiant and TV21 summer special but can't recall anything about it's contents.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite cover is the Valiant and TV21 one ( not counting Romita's original "bad guys" cover). Hope your feeling better soon Kid, take care
It's a variant cover, McS, there are others. I suppose it falls under the description of 'homage'. Read it last night and really enjoyed it so I might put it on the list. Favourite cover? Haven't made up my mind yet. Thanks for the kind sentiments.
DeleteDo you phone at 8am, Kid, because that's known as "the 8 o' clock scramble" and is notorious (I've had to endure it myself on occasion) - Tony Blair was once confronted about it by a voter during an election campaign and he was completely clueless on the subject which just shows how out of touch government ministers really are and clearly nothing has changed in the years since. I heard something about online bookings being introduced but I'm not sure how that would make any difference. Anyway I hope you get an appointment soon!
ReplyDeleteI much prefer the original Bad Guys cover.
I think it's 8:30am at our practice, CJ. It's always engaged and when/if you do get through, it's only to hear a message saying that all appointments are allocated and to try again tomorrow. It's an endless loop, lottery-type process. The winners get an appointment. The losers get more ill - or die.
DeleteHave to say that my last two GP practices were/are good and I can usually phone and get an appointment. It could be due to the fact that I had a heart problem aged 18 and the big C in 2012. I found out the month before I was due to get married but I had a swift op and was able to hobble up the aisle. Fortunately my cancer was common and survivable but I do wonder if it flags up when I book an appointment and they always get me in. I also get a free flu jab due to the heart thing (which came to nothing).
ReplyDeleteCould you book a non-urgent appointment for a week or twos time, so at least you have one booked? Maybe book a health check with a nurse and she (or he!) could then get you an appointment.
Summer Specials hold a special place in my heart. Memories of summer holidays, holiday TV and no school. School days are the best days of your life, if you ignore the school part. I love the Valiant cover. I wonder what 18p would equate to now.
I've got a giant-sized Superman #1, I think it came out around 1978/79 when the movie was all the rage.
Feel better soon, Kid.
Have already asked about making an advance appointment but they just won't entertain it, M. Although they'd deny it, the system as it is today, is so they can claim you were given an appointment within 24 hours (could be 48) of 'phoning for one. That doesn't include the days, weeks, or months it's taken to get through on the 'phone.
Delete18p would be just over 3 and-a-half shillings in old money back then, what that would be in 'real' terms nowadays I haven't a clue, but a mag like that today would probably cost around a fiver. I've got that Superman #1 as well, came out in 1979, the movie in '78.
Sorry to hear of your Carry On Doctor hassles, kid. Hope things change for the better and you get well. Ageing... Its a young man's game.
ReplyDeleteThanks, OD, will hopefully get matters resolved before too long.
DeleteKicking up a major stink as previously suggested would be my next attack. Complain to the Practice Manager.
ReplyDeleteOther things you could try are NHS Inform, the 111 telephone service or contacting your local MP (who is no doubt useless).
We have walk-in centres in England, not sure what you have in Scotland but you could see if you have an equivalent.
Also contact the local press and shame the surgery! Bloody disgrace!
I should do all that and more, M, but I just don't have the energy or the resolve at the moment as they're being used up in trying to get a care home to look after an elderly relative properly. That story will be appearing on Crivens at some stage in the future.
DeleteKid, buy a dingy and stand at the Dover shoreline. I'm sure you'll get everything you need then. Sorry for your pains, and hope you get that elusive appointment. 'Still the best go to blog on a quiet evening'.
ReplyDeleteNow there's an idea - though how would I get to Dover? And thanks for the compliment about the blog. (Just going for a wee kip 'cos I'm knackered.)
DeleteTry some none sweetened cranberry juice Kid, good for vit C, E, K, and a natural anti-inflammatory, antioxidant. Or some spinach for an iron fix, trust me, (Popeye had it right!) It may help perk you up? Yeah! mean't dinghy before, other half was dragging me away, for a dog walk and pint. 'What can you do?'
ReplyDeleteI'm on all sorts of vitamins at the moment, AAW, including cranberry juice, but nothing seems to work. Taking magnesium, B12, and even CBD tablets, still perpetually knackered.
DeleteI've tried magnesium, made me ache and tired, too much doesn't agree. Jury's out on CBD, some say it makes them sleepy? So many quality issues with manufactured vits and supliments. For me, Minimal Zinc, Iron i.e (kale or spinach), Tumeric tea (taste's lousy!) Banana's, and Apple's, works for me, until I fill up with any modern processed stodge, then the energy recovery takes some days.
ReplyDeleteI already ache and am tired all the time anyway, so that's no reason for me not to take them, AAW. The muscles in my legs have atrophied and I can hardly stand or walk, hence now having to use a Rollator (wheeled walker) to go shopping. Some days I'm too tired to go out at all, except for a short walk along to my local shops at the end of the road. Didn't go out on Monday or Tuesday and I suspect that'll eventually become the norm for me.
DeleteSorry to hear that Kid, it must be really difficult for you. I don't know how you find the drive to continue with your blog, but I'm sure everyone regularly looking in, is glad that you do...me being one! (Sincerely hope things improve for you.)
ReplyDeleteIt's sometimes a bit of an effort to keep the blog running, as is demonstrated by the fact that I used to be able to do 3 or 4 posts every day and I'm lucky if I can do that number in a week now. (With the same regularity that I used to anyway.) In fact, sometimes I'm lucky if I can do one a week, but I'll keep going until I just can't do it anymore. Thanks for the kind wishes. Off to my scratcher, need a kip.
DeleteOn the subject of vitamins and supplements - I take a daily capsule of Seven Seas cod liver oil plus omega-3 fish oil plus multivitamins (that's all in the same capsule not three different capsules). I've taken my one-a-day capsule for donkey's years but I don't know if it's been beneficial or not because I don't know how I'd be feeling if I'd never taken the capsules.
ReplyDeleteYou'd likely be feeling financially better off, CJ, if you weren't buying those capsules every whenever.
DeleteThere are 90 capsules in each container so I buy 4 containers a year - currently costing £14 per container.
ReplyDeleteThere you go then, CJ - you'd benefit by £56 a year if you didn't buy them.
DeleteI’m sorry to hear you’re not 100% at the moment, Kid. A serious question here and only to help you self assess and add to the GP conversation later on, but have you tried energy drinks? Calm down everyone, I’m not recommending them on an ongoing basis but as an occasional one off I find I get some extra zip (Red Bull for a spike and Monster for a slower burn). I only suggest this so you can judge what, if anything, they do for you.
ReplyDeleteYeah, tried energy drinks as well, CN. Trouble is, I already have a congenital liver disorder called Gilbert's Syndrome which leaves me nigh-constantly fatigued anyway. However, I'm even worse than usual these days (and have been for a while) so I suspect something else is at the root of it. And Gilbert's Syndrome wouldn't explain the pain I'm experiencing, or the weakness in my legs - or my lack of balance. What's the old saying - old age doesn't come alone. Very true.
DeleteBefore you posted on my blog that you planned to wait on FFFS, I was thinking about asking you if the FF movie attracted you any more than LEGACY, just using your mentions of both franchises in this post. For what it's worth, I noticed that the two films follow a parallel pattern:
ReplyDelete(1) a hero or heroes who start out being universally loved by most of the populace.
(2) a crisis in which the hero/heroes are rejected by the majority for perceived conflict of loyalties.
(3) some come-to-Jesus moment in which the hero/heroes are redeemed and beloved again.
Make of that what you will. And hope you get some decent treatment.
I used to love trips to the cinema, GP, but the last one I saw was Spectre and that failed to enthral me. I now find sitting in a cinema rather tedious so I doubt I'll ever attend any screening of anything ever again, regardless of how good a movie is reputed to be. Maybe it's an age thing.
DeleteI'll feel a right idiot if it turns out my aches and pains are down to my socks and underwear being too tight, but I'll just have to keep trying to get a doctor's appointment. Cheers.
Kid, try natural liquorice root, protein and fruits/veg for your liver, and maybe an Aspirin, to see if your weakness and aches improve. If so, it's probably down to poor blood circulation. Stay well....
ReplyDeleteI think I do have poor circulation, AAW, but that wouldn't explain everything. I already take Aspirin, but I'll see about that liquorice root. Cheers.
DeleteLast time I went to the cinema was 2011 to see Cabin in the Woods and a right load of garbage it was as well. Now I have a reclining, comfy chair, a 50" TV screen, heating set to suit (when needed), non-extortionate food and drink and a pause button. 21st century films on the whole are not worth seeing and certainly not worth the price they charge or the hassle of getting there and back. Also irritating is people talking/on their phones and kicking chairs. So no, cinema not for me anymore.
ReplyDeleteKid, incredibly I had to go to the Doctor's yesterday, I will relay my experience later.
I'll look forward to it, M.
DeleteI'll try and keep it brief. Basically on Thursday night I felt a bit dizzy and had tingling/pins and needles in my arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet - everywhere basically. Friday morning I woke up feeling dizzy again and the same tingling/pins and needles/numbness. Automatically assumed that a heart attack would ensue so thought I'd better go to the docs to get it checked out. Looked online to see the appointment process and it said I could fill in an online form or ring this number at 8am. So I phoned at 8am to be told "Oh we don't make appointments over the phone, you'll have to fill in the online form." So feeling slightly irritated I did. At 9.10am, the receptionist phoned me and asked if I could go down at 10am which I also did. Saw the doc and she didn't think there was any immediate danger so is sending me for blood tests. Still have the symptoms now.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the point is that I was seen on the day which is all well and good but what about your average 80 or 90 year-old who has never had the internet or a computer or smart phone? Why do they automatically assume everyone is online and savvy/capable? I dread to think what the world will be like if and when I get to that age. Also got to book the blood test online.
Hope everything works out fine for you, M, but I can't comprehend how they can get away with saying they don't book appointments over the 'phone, when they've already said they do. Is that sheer incompetence or what?! I actually went in to my doctor's surgery to see if I could make an appointment and was told I'd have to do it by 'phone. Madness!
DeleteBoils my blood things like this, just how are you suppose to fill out an online form if you feel like death or in pain. More impersonal ineptitude, hiding behind an even more inept soulless computer system, we truely are Little Britain, ('computer says no!') And to think, we fund this garbage just because somebody can no longer be bothered to do a job, and take important phone calls? And Monty, you could be experiencing a mini stroke, be mindful....
ReplyDeleteI think we're all on the same page on this, AAW, pure bloody disgrace and nothing seems to be improving either.
DeleteAnd how do you fill in an online form if your internet has gone down? The government is promising (threatening?) yet more AI to come so this is the future it seems.
ReplyDeleteWhat gets me is they've now made landlines part of Broadband, so if the Internet goes down you can't use your landline 'phone. In what way is that progress?
DeleteThanks AAW, I'm still with us at the moment pending a blood test.
ReplyDeleteMy parents in law don't have the internet and BT did some work a few weeks ago to ensure their landline will still work when they switch to internet only. Don't ask me how it works, it's all too technical for me. I keep telling them to get rid of their landline, it's a rip-off price, they may as well just use a mobile. We've still got a landline but never use it.
I'll have to see if they can do that with my landline, M, as I've had the same number since 1960 and would be loath to get rid of it - it's part of my history.
DeleteDigital networks mean everything can be recorded and monitored down to your IP address (digital postcode), then your account with any ISP (Internet Service Provider). No real protection, unless you use a VPN service, which will be probably be made illegal at some point, for some ridiculous, fabricated reason? People are so quick to embrace and promote this intrusive unstable tech in the name of progress and convenience, that they just don't realise, they're giving their privacy and freedoms away at the same time. It should sound like a conspiracy theory, but in current times, no so much...A full digital currency will be next, then we are truly at the mercy of the backward system.
ReplyDeleteIt's the world that's coming - unfortunately.
DeleteMonty, good luck on your results. We still have a copper land line for now? They want all cable and remaining analogue devices gone! The mad thing is, if we did stumble into a global conflict (god forbid!) Then the digital coms system would be knocked out within hours, via cyber or satellite attacks...stopping us in our tracks. Crazy times ahead?
ReplyDeleteIsn't it strange how so-called 'progress' is anything but? The world's gone mental!
DeleteKid, having an internet phone service doesn't mean you'll lose your current landline number - I was moved over to BT's Digital Voice in 2022 but my number stayed the same.
ReplyDeleteI was just explaining why I'd never get rid of my landline 'phone and just have a mobile, CJ. If I did, I'd no longer have my 65 year-old number. I'm already on Digital Voice, but I had to have a landline first, in order to be transferred to DV.
DeleteThanks for the tip that the contents of the Superman facsimile are not reproduced in the authentic way they did for the Detective #27 repro - I almost shelled out for it. Hope your health issues are getting diagnosed correctly Kid, and that you're in recovery mode. If you're still having difficulty getting a GP appointment, have you tried the NHS Telehealth service for either a video or phone consultation? I might help you get a referral.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same with the Action Comics #1 Golden Age facsimile as well, B - too new-looking inside.
DeleteI'd prefer a personal appointment, don't fancy a 'phone consultation as there are bits of me that need looking at.
Oops, sorry - I didn't realise you were on DV yet, Kid. I don't want to be without a landline either.
ReplyDeleteI really don't see how Digital Voice improves anything, CJ. If Broadband goes faulty, you can't 'phone or email to report it, or report your 'phone being kaput. In what way is that progress?
DeleteKid, in a recent comment you mentioned that you own an air fryer. Are they any good? What do you air fry?
ReplyDeleteI've got three air fryers, CJ, though one is still in its box. Yes, they're excellent, and you can buy air fryer meals for them, though they 'fry' just about anything. Funnily enough, sausages aren't recommended, but I find that as long as you clean out the fat left by the sausages after use, then there's no problem. I don't even use any oil, the fat in the food acts in its stead. If you didn't clean out the fat, there'd be a risk it would burn when next in use, so it pays to keep it clean. However, you can buy paper 'trays' for using in them, in which you place the food, then dispose of the trays after use. That saves from having to clean the air fryers after every meal, not that it's an arduous task.
DeleteI've probably made it sound like there's more work involved than there actually is, so if you were thinking of buying an air fryer, I'd recommend you doing so.
I wasn't planning on buying an air fryer but thanks for the information.
ReplyDeleteOh, I see - just being nosy, ya buggah!
DeleteOh Kid! All that effort and CJ's not even going to buy one! We also have an air fryer and wouldn't be without it now. We have a two drawer one so chips in the one side (or jacket spuds) and something else in the other for a complete meal. They are fast and efficient and use much less energy than a large oven (electric of course). They are basically a mini oven so heat up quicker and confine the heat to a small space. I line the drawer with silver foil when cooking anything like sausages, I've read that some of those paper liners can be dodgy and give off toxic fumes. I always clean it after use, first cleaning any fat out with kitchen roll, then sponging the draw with neat washing up liquid, then finally rinsing with warm water and allowing to dry ready for next time. It still looks new after about four years now. Mom had a one drawer air fryer, then won a two drawer one in a raffle! We also have a slow cooker, today I'm doing pasta bolognese in it, cooked on slow for 7 hours. We also do chilli, curry and meat in it. We hardly ever use the big oven now, only for pizza because it's too big for the other methods! CJ are you gonna buy one now?
ReplyDeleteI haven't used a conventional oven in a few years now, M, in fact I've turned it off at the mains. Only microwave ovens (2) and air fryers now. There's a great wee air fryer meal I've just discovered - salt and pepper chicken and chips. Great stuff.
DeleteI usually use 'rubber' liners (or trays) in my fryers - then I just clean them after use instead of having to clean the air fryer drawer itself.
Thanks for your information too, Monty, but I'm still not planning on buying one.
ReplyDeleteWhich begs the question, CJ - then why ask?
DeleteI was curious, Kid, and after reading yours and Monty's descriptions I would definitely buy an air fryer rather than a new oven.
ReplyDeleteI'd say that's very wise of you, CJ. Single guys really only need microwaves and air fryers in the 21st century. Unless you enjoy cooking for cooking's sake, that is, but for just heating grub, well, that'll do for me. Right, off to my scratcher.
Delete