The STALKER FILE - FINALLY CLOSED AFTER 44 YEARS... (Updated)

Copyright DC COMICS

So there I was, sitting on my grandparents' itchy red bed-settee (of which long-time readers will perhaps already be aware) one Sunday late afternoon back in the mid-'70s, perusing #1 of DC COMICS new monthly title, STALKER.  I remember buying it in R.S. McCOLL's, either that day or the day before, and I'd taken it with me to pass the time away.  I probably had other comics along with me as well, but though I likely associate them with that red settee on an individual basis, I don't connect them either to one another or even that particular Sunday.

As far as I know, there were only four issues, and I remember only having the first one, but all that's about to change - more on that in a moment.  At some stage (could've been months, could've been two or three years) I gave the ish to a pal, only to have it returned to me over 30 years later, in pretty much the same condition that I'd given it to him.  (At some stage before giving it away, I'd added 'invisible' tape to the spine to reinforce it.)  Stalker was created by PAUL LEVITZ and STEVE DITKO, the first also being the writer, the second also being the penciller, and WALLY WOOD made three, being the inker on the mag.

I recently saw numbers 1-4 on eBay and purchased them, so when they arrive, I'll add the covers for your personal perusal, but to kick-start the post, I've included a cover scan of the original comic I bought way back in 1975.  A lot of water's run under the bridge since then, but I can still recall reading it on that itchy red bed-settee all those years ago as if it were only a week or two back.  Like I say, there were only four issues, so when I get my grubby mitts on them, I'll read them in one sitting and thereby complete a task begun a whopping 44 years ago.

It's always satisfying to eventually finish something that's been waiting to be completed for any length of time, and this occasion will be no exception.  What about the rest of you?  Are there any comics series that you started as a teenager but never got to finish, though you'd like to now as an adult?  Tell all in the comments section.

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Okay, the issues have now arrived and been added, along with splash pages, to this post.  I've also read all four of them (though despite my aspiration, not in one sitting as I kept falling asleep), and if you're interested in my verdict, I'll be more than happy to tell you.  The first ish sets up an interesting premise, but #s 2-4 fail to deliver, being quite tedious and repetitive, with the story being told mainly through captions rather than dialogue.  One gets the impression that writer Paul Levitz hasn't mapped it all out in advance and is simply making up each individual episode as he goes along.  Surprisingly, I found myself underwhelmed by the Ditko/Wood art, which is merely okay and not the 'knock you out of your socks' masterpiece that you'd expect from two titans of the comicbook medium.

Would it have improved if it had reached issue 5 and beyond?  On the strength of the first four, I don't think I'd have continued buying it back in the day so I'd never have found out!  If you bought, read, and enjoyed the title when it was first published and disagree with my assessment, feel free to tell me in the comments section.

Let's finish how we started.  Here's the cover to the duplicate copy of #1 which I've just received, and look - no 'invisible' tape down the spine.

STRANGE TALES - QUITE LITERALLY... (Updated)

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Compulsion is a strange thing, don't you think?  It's a 'force' that comics collectors (or collectors of anything, come to that) suffer from, driving them to acquire items they already have in slightly different form, and which they don't really need.  Case in point, the above MARVEL MILESTONE EDITION of DOCTOR STRANGE from 1995, which arrived this morning.  I already have a similar issue included with a Doctor Strange articulated figure, the main differences being a '60s pin-up serving as the cover and the interior pages being printed on more traditional, non-glossy comics paper.  However, the story pages are the exact same (aside from the image size being slightly smaller), printed from the same source as the one above.

I've also got got around another eight different printings of the above tales in different formats, so I needed the Milestone Edition like a hole in the head, but I couldn't resist the siren call to purchase this version when I saw it on eBay recently, and add it to my other issues in this particular series.  Although I'm usually a great believer in reprints being exactly as they were first presented, I must say that the re-colouring by ANDY YANCHUS (done originally for the first edition of the MASTERWORKS volume) on these four tales is probably far more 'atmospheric' than the original colouring, though there's some overly-thick panel border 'restoration' in places by unskilled hands, which is slightly annoying.

Anyway, there it is - another comic that I don't really need, but am no less glad to have.  No, I can't quite explain it either - just put it down to that strange thing known as compulsion, which we probably all have in some form or other.  I never saw this issue 24 years ago when it first came out otherwise I'd have bought it then, so perhaps I'm only putting right something that didn't happen - but should have - nearly a quarter of a century back.  One for the philosophers to ponder perhaps?

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Below is the 2004 issue of the same strips, included with a '1st Appearance' articulated figure of Dr. Strange.  The cover would've looked better had they removed the 'pin-up' banner and enlarged the good Doctor's name, but obviously that would've required a little work.  Guess it was done on the cheap, eh?

BABE Of The DAY - SYBIL DANNING...

It's sensational SYBIL DANNING

doing her impersonation of 007 turning to

face the iconic gun-barrel (or is it gunsight?)

opening at the beginning of the BOND films.

That's the good thing about Sybil, she doesn't

mind doing a turn now and again.  (What?

 Don't blame me for your innuendo.)

EVEN ROCKS ERODE OVER TIME, BUT NOT SO YOU'D NOTICE...

Copyright DC COMICS

I've got several issues of the above SGT. ROCK Special series, but for some unknown reason, issues 4 & 6 eluded me at the time.  I'm not sure exactly how many issues of this series there were, but, without digging through a filing cabinet to check, I think the last one I bought was either #8 or 9.  (Update:  Just checked and I only had 1-3 & 5, four issues.  Strange, I was sure I had more.)  After 30 years, I've finally acquired 4 & 6 on eBay, and it's hard to believe that it's been my intention to track them down for three decades now.  It seems like only yesterday since they were first published, but it was - gasp - half my life away.  Can someone explain to me just how that's possible?  I'm sitting typing this at the same table in the same room where the issues I do own have been since I first bought them, and I have absolutely no sense of the immense gulf between then and now - it just seems so recent.

Another example of the complexity and perplexity of time, which never ceases to amaze me.  Now all I have to do is find out how many more issues I need to complete the set.  Anyone know?

MIGHTY MARVEL COLLECTED EDITIONS CHECKLIST - ON SALE NOW!!!

DEADPOOL UNLEASHED #6

Copyright MARVEL COMICS.  Published by PANINI

76 pages of Marvel's hottest hero!

New story!  Deadpool takes on the world's greatest secret agent!  His name is Burns... Jace Burns!  By Christopher Hastings & Salva Espin!

Deadpool goes universe-hopping and meets General America... and Lady Deadpool!  By Victor Gischler & Rob Liefield!

Featuring material first printed in Secret Agent Deadpool #1-2 and Prelude to Deadpool Corps #1.

On sale NOW!

£4.99.

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ESSENTIAL X-MEN #20

76 pages of mutant mayhem!

Magneto wants Emma Frost dead - and the only thing in his way is the X-Men's Blue Team!  By Cullen Bunn & Jorge Molina!

At last!  The wedding of Kitty Pryde and Peter Rasputin!  By Marc Guggenheim & Gerald Borges!

Featuring material first printed in X-Men: Gold #30 and X-Men: Blue #30-32.

On sale NOW!

£4.99.

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MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL #21

76 pages of Marvel Universe Adventure!

'The Infinity Wars' saga continues!  Gamora rewrites the entire Marvel Universe, with shocking results for Loki!  By Gerry Duggan & Mike Deodato Jr.!

Featuring material first printed in Infinity Wars 1-2.

On sale NOW!

£4.99.

DOCTOR, I'M A LITTLE WEEKLY - DOCTOR WHO COMIC 40TH* ANNIVERSARY...

Dr. WHO copyright BBC TV.  DALEKS copyright
BBC TV and the Estate of TERRY NATION

DOCTOR WHO has appeared in comic-strip format from practically his earliest days.  First in Polystyle Publication's TV COMIC, then in COUNTDOWN, followed by TV ACTION (when the former changed its name), and then back to TV COMIC.  However, in 1979, under the helm of editor DEZ SKINN, the time-travelling titan was awarded his very own British MARVEL magazine in the shape of (unsurprisingly) Doctor Who Weekly.

The first issue was cover-dated October 17th (meaning it would've come out the week before) and lasted in its weekly format until issue #44, when it then became a monthly.  Essentially a children's adventure comic originally, with the change to monthly publication it gradually became more of a geeky, anorak-type title aimed primarily at diehard fanatics.  (Does anyone really need to know that the un-credited 'extra', third from the left in the background of a scene in UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS was also on view for all of two seconds in a 1976 episode of Doctor Who?  Some people can't survive without such information, apparently.)

As well as original strips, the comic also featured reprints of various U.S. Marvel stories (from their mystery, suspense and Marvel Classics titles) with a TALES From The TARDIS logo and illustration of TOM BAKER pasted onto the splash page of each tale.  So, here's a select few pages from that premiere issue from all those years ago.  Apparently, the magazine is now listed in the GUINNESS BOOK Of RECORDS for being the longest-running TV tie-in publication in the history of everything.  What can I say?  Timeless.  

One more thing: Back then I had no way of knowing that, nearly 25 years later, I would be a freelance contributor to several issues of the mag - at least one of which reprinted a back-page DALEKS strip from TV CENTURY 21.  It gave me a strange sense of connection with my childhood days to see a page I'd read as a kid presented alongside contemporary work that bore my name.  A very TWILIGHT ZONE-ish moment indeed. 

Click on image to enlarge, click again for optimum size.

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*Oops!  I typed 50th Anniversary in the post's title instead of 40th.  Blame Whizzer & Chips for being 50 and confusing me!  Now sorted.  (Actually, I published this post from ten years in the future when me and the Doctor - the real one, a man - were visiting Gront-el III, so it really was 50.  However, obviously you'd never believe that, which is why I never said.  Oops - just did.)

CRIVENS! IT'S WHIZZER & CHIPS 50TH ANNIVERSARY - COMPLETE 1ST ISSUE...

Copyright REBELLION

"Two comics in one, double the fun!", but WHIZZER & CHIPS was really just one comic with two names.  However, it was a good idea to make readers think that they were getting more bang for their bucks.  (Or in this case, more pages for their pennies.)  I recall seeing WHIZZER & CHIPS upcoming launch advertised in a centre-spread insert in SMASH! and being instantly fascinated by a picture of the friendly ghost from HARRY'S HAUNTED HOUSE.

On sale on 11th October 1969 (cover-dated 18th), I was up around 7a.m. and across like a rocket to the newsagent's over the road from me, eager to immerse myself in this new comics experience.  The title lasted for one week past its (un-celebrated) 21st birthday before being merged with stablemate BUSTER, thereby ensuring that at least a few W&C characters survived a bit longer.  I bought a copy of the last issue in the same shop that I had purchased the first, even though I no longer lived in the area.

Y'know, sometimes I think that any point in my past life is as near to me as 'over the road' was then, but it's a short-lived feeling that soon dissipates when I realise that all my yesterdays are quite a bit farther removed than that.  Anyway, that's enough melancholy introspection - enjoy the 'Whizzer' section to start with, and we'll be back right after it with its companion paper 'Chips'.  (Were you a Whizz-kid or a Chip-ite?  Don't be shy now. )

And below is the CHIPS section to help you recapture a long-vanished slice of your childhood - if you were a child back in 1969 that is.  It's hard for me to believe I originally bought this comic when it first came out 50 years ago, but yes - I really am that old, despite my youthful good looks and full, luxuriant head of hair.  I've even got all my own teeth - and I don't mean the kind that are kept in a glass of water at night.  However, before this starts to read like an ad in a dating agency, I'll shut up and let you get on with reading the following strips.  I could then end by saying "You've had your Chips!", but that would be too obvious a pun, wouldn't it?

BONUS: Here are a couple of flyers from SMASH! comic (it probably also appeared in other IPC titles) for the new weekly WHIZZER & CHIPS.

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