CONAN CLASSIC...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS and CPI

Now, for all you frantic fearsome fans of sword and sorcery author ROBERT E. HOWARD's Cimmerian hero, you're in for a special treat.  Here's the young CONAN The BARBARIAN in his very first MARVEL COMICS outing - originally from CTB #1 and reprinted in the first of an eleven-issue series of CONAN CLASSIC.  Written by ROY (The BOY) THOMAS and drawn by BARRY (WINDSOR) SMITH.  Enjoy - and feel free to leave a comment you-know-where.

And if you'd like to see Big JOHN BUSCEMA's much later version of the same tale, then click here to be transported straight to it.

"TIME, GENTLEMEN, PLEASE..."

Dr. WHO copyright BBC TV

When I was a mere lad back in the 1960s, my brother one day acquired from somewhere the very first paperback adventure of Dr. WHO - in an exciting adventure with The DALEKS no less.  The grim and moody illustration of WILLIAM HARTNELL's Doctor looking out at the reader from the cover transfixed me - and set the pattern for how I think the character should be portrayed.  To me, The Doctor should be an enigmatic, mysterious figure that nobody is quite sure of.  Is he good or bad?  Where does he come from?  Who is he?  I rue the day when the powers that be at the BBC decided he should be a babbling idiot who looks like he's having heaps of fun in whatever adventure he currently happens to be explaining aloud as he runs from one darkened corridor into another.

The paperback contains 6 illustrations

A few years ago, I managed to obtain a replacement for the 1965 ARMADA paperback I'd owned as a kid.  Due to insufficient packaging it was severely damaged in the post, which meant I had to completely re-glue the spine and repair the cover. (Don't worry - the spine work is virtually undetectable.  You'd never know unless I told you - which I just did.)  I could have returned it, but these books tend not to turn up too often so I decided to hold onto it in case I never got the chance of one again.  It's enough for me that the mood of the cover is intact and that one glance is enough to return me to an earlier time.  (Rather apt, considering we're discussing Dr. Who.)

The hardback contains 12 illustrations

The hardback was first published by FREDERICK MULLER in 1964, but it's the paperback edition issued the following year that, to me, is the definitive edition - cover-wise at least.  When TARGET reprinted the paperback in the '70s, they ignored the interior illustrations by PETER ARCHER from the Armada edition and instead opted for the original ARNOLD SCHWARTZMAN ones from the Frederick Muller hardback.  As far as I know, this 'exciting adventure' is still available from BBC BOOKS.  It's well-worth reading.

(Update: I later managed to obtain an undamaged copy of the Armada paperback, but retained the other one.  [Yes, Melvin, that means I now have two of them.)  The scans of its covers in this post are from the undamaged book.) 

The AMAZING WORLD Of DOCTOR WHO...

Copyright BBC TV and the Estate of TERRY NATION

Back in the dim and distant days of September 1976, I contacted WORLD DISTRIBUTORS to enquire about the possibility of obtaining a DALEK ANNUAL they'd published the previous year.  They replied in the affirmative and, after sending the requisite payment, the sought-after book, when it eventually arrived, was accompanied by a free copy of The AMAZING WORLD Of DOCTOR WHO, containing reprints of some Dalek strips from the back of TV CENTURY 21.  (You know the old saying - never look a gift-Dalek in the mouth - so I didn't.)

The World Distributor Dalek reprints were reproduced from the original artwork (which was revised to cover the title and 'stop press' panels on each page), unlike some later reprintings which were merely scanned from issues of TV21.  So without any further ado, enjoy an exciting adventure with The Daleks - the cheeky little rascals.

Incidentally, the first three pages are illustrated by RICHARD JENNINGS and the last two are by RON TURNER.

And below, the actual letters I received from World Distributors way back when. (Click on to enlarge, then click again.)

ZOONY'S DIARY...

Copyright relevant owner

Following on from the recent FIREBALL XL5 strips and direct from the TV CENTURY 21 ANNUAL for 1966, comes ZOONY'S DIARY - for no other reason than that I find it highly amusing.  Go on - give it a read and enjoy a good chuckle or three.

And let's not forget the cover and the fantastic RON EMBLETON illustration which adorns it.

STEVE ZODIAC - "TRAIL Of The TRAITOR"...

Copyright relevant owner

As promised, Crivs, here's the second FIREBALL XL5 story from the 1964 GOLD KEY one-shot comic, based on GERRY ANDERSON's very first television series to be set in the 21st century.  (SUPERCAR had been set in what was then present day.)  Some of the shots of Fireball are a little suspect, but the artist may have been working from sparse reference material so let's not hold it against him.  The art may not measure up against MIKE NOBLE's beautifully illustrated XL5 tales from TV CENTURY 21, but it's a nice little collectors' item for all those who wish they were a spaceman. And now you can read it for yourselves, you lucky peeps.  Click here to see Steve's encounter with The MOON MASTERS!

And let's not forget the back-page pin-up for all you completists.

ANYONE REMEMBER MONSTER BARS?

Back in the 1960s, one of the favourite items of confectionary amongst kids was the MONSTER BAR - otherwise referred to in abbreviated form as an MB Bar.  In some ways it was similar to a FRY'S CHOCOLATE CREAM, but without a wrapper - and, if I remember correctly, it was originally priced at tuppence (2d).

In the mid-'80s, because of new rules and regulations, it was given a wrapper - but this was relatively short-lived as it disappeared from the shelves not long after.  It returned a few years ago looking pretty much the same - but with an inferior chocolate covering and tasting not quite as good as it once did.  Whether or not it's produced by the same manufacturer is unknown, but I doubt it. 

It currently sells for around 75p in small, independent sweet shops, so it's actually quite expensive compared to what it once was in its heyday.  Good to see it's still around though - even if it's not quite the quality, value for money product of yesteryear.

PAST PARTICULARS - Or "GIRLS I HAVE KNOWN"...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Isn't it strange how one tiny image can conjure up countless connotations in one's mind?  For example, the above pic of SUSAN STORM, bosom uninhibitedly thrust out, standing before the SUB-MARINER, is one that used to have a strange effect on me when I was eight or nine years old.  I may not even have been able to conceive of the mechanics of sex at that age (and nowadays I'm not sure I can remember them), but I was still aware of the butterflies in my stomach and the faint tingles in my nether regions whenever I looked at this and certain other pictures of the beautiful Susie - aka The INVISIBLE GIRL.  (The next image - from the same page - is another of them.)

So smitten was I with this blonde-haired bombshell, that I cut out this picture (sacrilege I know) from the pages of MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS #6 and kept it about my person.  In class at school, I would conceal it in the palm of my hand and steal surreptitious glances at my beloved while the teacher wittered on about whatever it is that teachers witter on about.  (I couldn't tell you - I never listened to them.)  However, such youthful 'romantic' notions are not the kind of 'connotations' I was alluding to in the first paragraph.

As a consequence of these pictures being part of my childhood, whenever I look at them today (in a replacement issue of MCIC), dozens of images swim through my mind;  my old primary classroom, the playground, assorted classmates and teachers, the view through the windows, the cool of the toilets at the bottom of the stairs along with the accompanying sounds of gently cascading water and the smell of disinfectant, the walk back and forth to school from my house, my living-room, bedroom, etc., etc.  You get the idea.  One little picture is a window into the past - not only to a specific time and place, but also a myriad of associated places, people and particulars.

And I can multiply that experience many times over.  This next image of Susan for example, first seen in a copy of WHAM! and again in MCIC #5 a year or two later.  Not only do I associate it with where I lived at the time, but also my grandparents' house (I'd taken it with me one Sunday on a visit), the walk back home later that evening - to say nothing of subsequent associations when the strip was reprinted in The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL in 1973.

And my childhood fantasies weren't confined to the stunning Sue Storm.  Fickle as I was, I also enjoyed imaginary liaisons with the likes of jaunty JEAN GREY (MARVEL GIRL), wondrous WANDA (The SCARLET WITCH) and jiggly JANET VAN DYNE (The WASP).  And then there was the voluptuous VENUS from FIREBALL XL5, plus the awesome ATLANTA SHORE and the mute MARINA from STINGRAY.  (In their comic strip incarnations by artists MIKE NOBLE and RON EMBLETON in TV CENTURY 21.  The puppets were foxy little numbers as well though.)  I had a virtual Harem from which I could indulge my prepubescent daydreams.   

As I've said before, looking at old comics is like rereading old diary entries (to those who keep diaries that is).  Short of actual photographs, it's probably the most effective way to reacquaint ourselves with particular periods from our past and keep alive those long-vanished moments which are so dear to us.  Sometimes I'll spend hours thumbing through old comics, reliving my childhood and recalling a seemingly more innocent time when all I had to fret about was whether I'd get what I wanted for my birthday or Christmas.

Remember - your past is waiting for you.  Why not pay it a little visit sometime soon?

(For another reminiscence in a similar vein, click here.) 

******

And full marks to any observant Criv-ites who spotted the JIM REEVES reference - award yourself a MARS BAR.      

PART FIVE Of FANTASTIC COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

It's now time for our regular trip back into the past to look at another half-dozen issues of FANTASTIC front covers and back-page pin-ups.  If you were around when these comics first went on sale, you'll have a blast revisiting your yesterdays - if not, then just enjoy the pretty pictures.  See?  What more could anyone ask?  There's something for everyone on this blog.  Only another fifty-nine to go.