HAPPY EASTER TO ALL 'KID-ITES'...

Copyright REBELLION

As Good Friday is upon us, it's only fitting to present you with an Easter-themed treat.  We therefore unveil the April 13th (dated 20th) 1968 issue of one of Britain's best-loved comics of the past - SMASH!  At this time, Smash! was publishing MARVEL and DC strips within its pages - namely, DAREDEVIL and BATMAN & ROBIN.  I've included the first pages of each strip to give those who weren't around at the time an idea of how the pages were resized to fit the dimensions of a British weekly comic.

Also on view are THE SWOTS & THE BLOTS, RONNIE RICH, and GRIMLY FEENDISH - and that's only a small selection of what was on offer in this great issue.  Weren't around in 1968, eh?  See what you missed?!

HAPPY EASTER!

SUPPRESSED - The WASP In A WIG...

Copyright relevant owner

When Victorian author LEWIS CARROLL (the non de plume of CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON) wrote the classic sequel to his famous book 'ALICE'S ADVENTURES In WONDERLAND', entitled 'THROUGH The LOOKING GLASS And What Alice Found There', he originally included an 'episode' about a wasp in a wig which was excised before the book was published in 1871.

Apparently, illustrator JOHN TENNIEL thought the concept was "altogether beyond the appliances of art" and suggested that if Carroll wanted to shorten the book then here was his opportunity.  Carroll took his advice.  The galley proofs, whose existence was unknown to Alice experts, appeared for auction in 1974 and were first published in the above book in 1977.

If you're a collector of Lewis Carroll's works, your Alice volumes are incomplete without this little chapbook.  What's that?  Don't have a copy?  Then that's why eBay was invented.  I got mine in GRANT'S bookshop in Glasgow's Union Street in 1977/'78.)  With a Preface, Introduction and Notes by MARTIN GARDNER, plus a convincing reconstruction after Tenniel by KEN LEEDER, this is an indispensable addition to any bookshelf.

ISBN: 0-333-23727-7

SUSAN STORM - NEKKID...

Above is a delightful pic of SUSAN STORM from the FANTASTIC FOUR - completely nekkid.  This was taken before she married REED RICHARDS, which is why I use her maiden name.  Unfortunately, unless you have a special set of spectro-analysis spectacles, you won't be able to see her, as she was invisible when this photo was snapped against  a back- ground of unstable molecules.  I can provide a pair of these glasses for a mere £40, inclusive of post and packing.  Another £40 secures the other nine photos in the series.  Get in touch if you're dumb... er, I mean smart enough to recognise a bargain when you see one.

EMMA PEEL? SORRY, BUDDY - YOU'RE IN THE WRONG PLACE...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

With the imminent release of the new AVENGERS movie upon us, now might be the time to re-acquaint yourselves with the origins and history of the super-team from their earliest four-colour appearances back in the 1960s.  Allow me, therefore, to recommend the MARVEL OMNIBUS edition of the group's first 30 issues, painstakingly restored from the best sources available, along with pin-ups, letter pages and loads of bonus features.

What else could you possibly want to spend your money on?  Rush out and get your copy today!

ISBN #978-0-7851-5846-2 

JOHN CARTER - WARLORD Of MARS...

Copyright DC COMICS and the Estate of EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

I haven't seen the new JOHN CARTER movie yet - don't know if I'll bother.  I've read some good reviews and some bad ones, so I'm as yet undecided on how to spend my hard-earned dosh in the cinema stakes.  If you're in the same boat, here's a sort of' 'trailer' for it - from way back in 1972.  Perhaps it'll help you make up your mind.

 

And below is the cover of the comic from which came the story you've just read and hopefully enjoyed.  Reached a decision yet?

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.)