FLIPPIN' 'ECK! IT'S FRANKIE STEIN...

 

Copyright REBELLION

 

Sometimes I astound myself with my generosity!  Here am I, giving you humour-hungry hounds three - count 'em, three - classic FRANKIE STEIN strips by KEN REID, and I ain't even charging you a penny!  I must be mad!  And what's more, these strips are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th tales ever to appear in WHAM!, ODHAMS PRESS' short-lived '60s rival to D.C. THOMSON'S BEANO.  Wow!  Just think - very nearly 50 years ago.

 

"But what happened to the first episode?" you may be asking.  Fret not, frantic ones - that can be found by simply clicking here.  There - now your joy is surely complete.  (And if not, it should be.)  Look out for more Frankie Stein strips soon.

 

PART FOUR Of The DALEKS SWEET CIGARETTE CARDS From The '60s...

Copyright BBC TV and the Estate of TERRY NATION

As you should all know by now, these DALEKS sweet cigarette cards were issued by a confectionery company called CADET back in the mid-'60s and are considered to be highly collectable.  Once upon a time they could command around £150-£175 for a complete set, but recently two sets were sold on eBay for £46 and £56 respectively.  An empty packet for the cigarettes, however, fetched £90.88, which is a lot of dosh for two small pieces of cardboard.

RICHARD JENNINGS, who drew strips for the '60s Daleks Annuals and TV CENTURY 21, is believed to have been the artist responsible for the illustrations on the cards, although some sources think there were two.  However, the name of the second one appears to be unknown.  (At least, I haven't been able to find it.)  If you can supply further details, please feel free to contribute. 

Look out for a further five cards soon.

PART TWO Of The ORIGINAL SWAMP THING COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Another batch of SWAMP THING covers for you to slobber over, frantic ones. BERNI WRIGHTSON drew #9 & 10, LUIS DOMINGUEZ drew #11, and NESTOR REDONDO drew #s 12-16.  Aren't they pretty?  In a horrible sort of way, I mean.  (And that's meant as a compliment - after all, they ARE horror comics of a sort.)  When you think about it, a comicbook cover is a little bit like a movie poster, in that it has to attract the attention and stir the interest of potential buyers.  I bet no comic artist ever got paid anything near as much as their movie poster equivalents though, eh?

Third and final part coming soon!

The ROAD NOT TAKEN - A REFLECTION...

The actual tenement building in which I once lived - on the first floor
to the right of the speed limit sign.  Where's the blue plaque?

Do you ever wonder in what ways your life might have been different if one aspect of your past hadn't happened as it did?  For example, if your family hadn't moved from one neighbourhood to another and you hadn't had to switch schools as a result?  In what way would your existence have differed - the direction of your life been altered - as a consequence of your personal history not unfolding as it had?

Think of the friends you'd never have met, the things you'd never have done, the loves you'd never have known - all as a result of your parents deciding to move to one area instead of another (or not moving at all) - or perhaps even emigrating to another country.  Favourite TV programmes and fondly remembered comics and toys from your youth would be strangers to you, and a foreign cultural and social backcloth to your life could well have turned you into a completely different person to the one you are today.

I remember, about 14 years back, having a short-lived 'romantic' encounter with a young lady I'd been introduced to through friends, and enjoying some of the delights of the West End of Glasgow with her in all its golden, Autumnal glory.  Subsequently, when she returned to her own country, I fell into the habit of revisiting the area, and was surprised to eventually realise that it was the very neighbourhood in which I had once lived as a mere babe-in-arms back in the 1950s.

I had no memory of the place from that period, because we had flitted to a new town when I was not long out of nappies (diapers), but it caused me to wonder if my affinity with the locale was as a result of its association with the 'object of my affections', or a subconscious memory of being trundled about the streets in my pram or pushchair when I was a babby (love that word).

Sometimes, whilst partaking of a latte outside the OFFSHORE CAFE in Gibson Street (just around the corner and practically within sight of the very road in which I had once resided), I would ponder what it would be like if we'd never moved, and instead of having to catch a train back to my present house, I had merely to walk around that corner and enter the tenement building that had once been home to me, but of which I now had no conscious recollection.

My experiences, my memories, would all have been different - to such an extent that my life wouldn't be the life I'd known and which played such a part in influencing and shaping who I am today - it would be another life entirely.  Which is like saying it would be another's life entirely, because I wouldn't, in all likelihood, be the same person I am now.  Would I be better or worse though?  That's something else I sometimes ponder, but there's no way of knowing, I suppose.

Trouble is, it's incredibly difficult (if not impossible) to imagine a life different to the one I grew up living.  I guess it'd be the same for most people.  Doesn't stop me wondering though.

Now tell me - am I the only person who ever ponders perplexities like these, or is there anyone else out there who thinks along similar lines?  Maybe you'd like to add your thoughts, theories, observations and speculations on the matter, so feel entirely free to do so in the comments section.     

MIGHTY MARVEL COVER GALLERY - PART FOURTEEN...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Looking back 40 years after the fact, it's difficult to know for sure what MARVEL were thinking of when they increased The INCREDIBLE HULK content in MWOM to two stories per issue.  Surely the growling green behemoth wasn't that popular?  I'd have much preferred them to retain DAREDEVIL (or introduce yet another character) rather than have an extra Hulk tale at the expense of a trio of different strips per issue.

Companion paper SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY contained only two main characters in each issue (Spidey and THOR) at the time, so perhaps the decision was prompted by the desire to replicate that pattern, knowing it wouldn't be too long before the 11 page Hulk stories would give way to full-length, 20 page adventures. Who can know for sure?  However, it needn't concern us now, as we're only here to look at the pulsating piccies anyway.

So, without further ado, here they are!  Enjoy! 

In case you're wondering, the above issue contained no pin-ups or puzzle pages

KEN REID In WHAM!

Copyright relevant owner

"O joy!  Be still my beating heart!"  You may recall me mentioning the above tome in an addendum to a recent post on FRANKIE STEIN.  No sooner had I found out about the book than someone put a copy of it up for sale on eBay, which I bid on  - and won!  I received it today and, indeed, 'tis a thing of exceeding and unparalleled beauty.

Every KEN REID Frankie and JASPER The GRASPER strip from the pages of WHAM!, LEO BAXENDALE's 'Super-BEANO' from the 1960s - with top-notch reproduction on superb-quality paper.  Considering what it would cost to obtain the individual issues I don't already have, the book was an absolute steal - and I just can't comprehend how the seller could bear to part with it.  (Though I'm glad he did.)

Apparently, only 20 copies of the book were professionally published at the behest of a private collector whose identity remains unknown.  God bless 'im, I say!  I noticed the other day that a hardback deluxe edition of the back page DALEKS strips from TV CENTURY 21 was once advertised on eBay, but speculation was rife that it was a fraud and the ad vanished.  Perhaps, if it really existed, it was a privately-produced collection similar to the Frankie Stein one, above.

If anyone knows anything about the background of either collection, feel free to share your knowledge in the comments section.  There's no need to mention any names - the date of publication, original price, etc., will more than suffice for this interested collector.

******

UPDATE: I've since been advised that the book was published in 2010.

A MOCK-ENCRUSTED MOCKERY Of A MAN! SWAMP THING COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Welcome to the first instalment in a three-parter of sensational SWAMP THING covers from the DC COMICS series of the early '70s.   Apparently,  ol' 'Swampy' and MARVEL's MAN-THING were created at almost the same time - although, because of the schedules involved in comics production, neither title seems likely to have been the 'inspiration' for the other.  In short, one of life's great coincidences, similar to the debut of a U.K. and U.S. DENNIS The MENACE strip in the same week, if not the same day back in 1951.

Created by LEN WEIN and BERNI WRIGHTSON, Swamp Thing lasted for 24 issues and was discontinued before a new direction begun in #23 could be fully explored.  In fact, when the character was revived in a new series released in the early '80s, the developments of the last two issues of the original title were completely ignored.

So. let's return to an earlier, simpler and (arguably) better age, when comics not only had the power to enthrall, excite and entertain us, but were also fun!  Wouldn't it be great if contemporary comicbooks were the same, rather than merely the latest non-eventful, underwhelming chapter of a future collected edition?  (Or am I too jaded?)

Be sure not to miss Part Two - coming soon!  

The ORIGIN Of The DALEKS...

Behold - the first ever DALEKS story from the pages of TV CENTURY

21, as illustrated by RICHARD JENNINGS.  What more need be said?

CALLING INTERNATIONAL RESCUE...

Copyright relevant owner

Here, for all you Crivs, is a nicely illustrated adventure tale by BRIAN LEWIS from the 1966 THUNDERBIRDS EXTRA, featuring GERRY ANDERSON's enterprising and intrepid crew of INTERNATIONAL RESCUE.  Looking at the cover and artwork below takes me right back to those searing Summers of the sensational 1960s faster than I can blink.  Ah, those were the days - wish I could have them back again.  Ready?  "5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - Thunderbirds are go!"

This is the same artist (now sadly deceased) who drew CHARLIE'S CHOICE (a humour strip about a young lad and his telly) for SMASH!  Talk about talent and versatility?  Then chances are you're talking about Brian Lewis, one of the finest comic artists that this country ever produced.