KIRBY'S KAMANDI COVER GALLERY...

Copyright DC COMICS

If memory serves, KAMANDI #29 was the second issue of the title I bought after #1.  It was the SUPERMAN suit that drew me in, you see.  Hitherto, I hadn't found the prospect of a semi-naked, long-haired, girlie-boy the sort of thing I'd want to read, much less part with my hard-earned cash for, but I just had to find out about that suit.  Why was it unworn?  What had happened to the mighty MAN Of STEEL?  How did all the pieces fit together in this post-apocalyptic world of the future?

There was only one way to find out, of course, and that was to buy the mag - which I did - but, truth to tell, although I purchased a handful of other issues after that, I never became a huge fan of the book.  It was KIRBY-by-the-numbers and, although an entertaining enough read, nowhere near as satisfying as Jack's MARVEL work with STAN LEE.  (So why, as far as longevity goes, was it Jack's most successful mag at DC COMICS?  Go figure!)

However, Kirby is Kirby, so a good many years ago, I managed to re-acquire #29, as well as the first nine comics in the series.  That's why I have the set of issues whose covers you see in this very post - which I've decided to share with you all at absolutely no charge.  Am I a great guy or what?  (Update: I now own the Omnibus volume, so if I can open it wide enough without cracking the spine, I may show you the remaining covers one of these days.)

THIRD And FINAL PART Of 'SMASHING' FACTS & FIGURES...

Copyright relevant owner

And now, the end is here, and so we face the final portion (oops, nearly broke into a song there) - of SMASH! #2, featuring labels detailing the cast and cost of each page's production.  You now have the complete ish to peruse at leisure, as well as an insight into just how lucrative being a cartoonist could be compared to the average wage back in 1966.  Don't be fooled though - it wasn't easy money, and often involved working into the wee small hours of the night in an attempt to meet a deadline.

Sadly, there just aren't as many opportunities available nowadays for budding cartoonists, as weekly comics (with the exception of The BEANO) are mainly a thing of the past.  So gaze upon these pages of Smash! and recall a time in the nation's history when seemingly countless high-circulation comics for girls and boys proliferated all across the country.  Sadly, it appears unlikely that we shall see such times again.

HOPE And MEMORIES...

I've shown this photo before, but I'm sure there are quite a few of you who haven't bothered trawling through the archives to look at previous posts and therefore haven't seen it.  So, just for you, here's the moment when your humble host met (for the second time) legendary comedian and Hollywood movie star, Mr. BOB HOPE.

I told him I hoped his 'waiter' gig was secure 'til his career picked up again and then asked for a fish tea for table #7.  A chuckle aside, there was no funny one-line response, but none of his writers were on hand to supply him with one.

Incidentally, 'Baarb' (as his companions pronounced his name) had a framed cartoon of mine in his collection for the last 19 years of his life.  I wonder where it is now?  I'll post a copy of it one day when I remember where I stashed it.

SANDMAN COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright DC COMICS

In the Winter of 1974, DC COMICS' newest superhero magazine hit the stands - The SANDMAN.  Penned by JOE SIMON and drawn by JACK KIRBY, I'm unsure whether the decision to make it a regular series came before or after the first issue debuted.  When issue #2 appeared, it was scripted by MICHAEL FLEISHER (as were all subsequent issues) and drawn by ERNIE CHUA - who used to draw under the name of Ernie CHAN.

With #4, Kirby assumed the regular art chores on the book, but it only lasted another two issues before being cancelled.  The final issue featured the inking of WALLY WOOD, but Jack's pencils were far too abstract by this time for even the magic of Wood's inking to be able to transform them in the way he had with CHALLENGERS Of The UNKNOWN back in the '50s.  There were some nice little touches here and there, but, overall, the art was unremarkable.

The first five covers were drawn by Kirby, the last by (Ditko-ish) BILL DRAUT, but none of them really qualify as memorable masterpieces of (then) modern comicbook art.  Jack was just churning it out by this time, and it wouldn't be very long before he was back freelancing for MARVEL.  However, the covers are an interesting reminder of a particular time in the history of comics-publishing, and nothing by Kirby is without merit or deserves to be ignored.

  

SCHOOLTIME SCANDALS - PART THREE: VALENTINE'S DAY - IT DOESN'T PAY TO BE A SMARTIE...

Mr. VALENTINE was a Maths teacher at DUNCANRIG Senior Secondary School who was regarded as a 'bit of a dish' by all the female pupils and a 'great bloke' by most of the male contingent, especially the sporty ones.  If I recall correctly, he was involved in running the school rugby matches in some way, and one of his favourite jokes when recounting the most recent game was how surprised he was at how many of the 'under-15s' in the opposing side had seemingly cut themselves shaving that morning.  (The implication being that the services of older 'ringers' had been procured to ensure victory.)  Cue hoots of uproarious laughter from enthralled pupils eager to ingratiate themselves and curry the master's favour. If he's still teaching, he's probably still cracking that joke today.

Mr. Valentine married Miss HALL, an English teacher who insisted on inflicting a sadistic torture upon her students.  She would read aloud a passage from STAN BARSTOW'S 'A KIND Of LOVING' and then, as some embarrassingly erotic paragraph beckoned, stop, look around, and ask some horrified pupil to take over.  The pools of perspiration (well, I think it was perspiration) left under the desks at the end of the period could have filled a swimming pool, such was the terrified apprehension at being one of the 'chosen ones'.  I know I wasn't alone in considering the possibility that the seemingly innocent and demure Miss Hall got her 'jollies' from listening to beetroot-red schoolkids reading 'dirty' words.

However, back to her man:  I, alone amongst the schoolboy throng, wasn't fooled by his jovial and easy-going, bloke-ish manner, nor by the fact that he sometimes appeared on SONGS Of PRAISE on TV.  "Why?" you may ask.  And, having pretended you did, I shall now tell you.

******

One day, in Mr. Valentine's Maths class, I asked for permission to sharpen my pencil in the pencil-sharpener (what else?) next to the blackboard at the front of the room.  As I set about my task, Mr. Valentine produced a box of SMARTIES and announced he was going to share them out amongst the pupils.  What a guy!  The class consisted of around five sets of desks, one in each corner of the room and (I think) one in the middle.  I was making my way back to my desk as he went around the first group and, jokingly, I leant in amongst them with proffered palms as he dropped some Smarties into their outstretched hands.  Stepping around me, he continued to the pupil on my left and, smiling to myself at my jest, I resumed my seat in one of the far corners near the large rear windows.

Eventually he reached the desks at which I was sat, and started to drop Smarties into the hands of my compatriots.  Free Smarties - what a guy!  When he got to me, he missed me out and continued to the student next to me.  "Sir," I said, surprised, "you haven't given me any."  He looked at me dismissively and retorted "You got some over there!", indicating the desks nearest the blackboard.  "But you missed me out, Sir," I protested.  "Stay after class 'til I have a word with you!", he replied.

So, free Smarties all 'round - for everybody except me!  Did I say what a guy?  What a b*st*rd more like!  When the bell rang at period's end, although I was last in line, I slowly made my way towards the exit, but he made no attempt to stop me.  At one point I actually looked straight at him as I approached the door, expecting him to pull me up, but he stared off into the distance and said nothing.

Even today, I wonder what it was all about.  I had never caused any trouble in his class, never been cheeky to him and had kept a low profile.  Did he genuinely think he'd given me some Smarties, then remembered that he hadn't and sheepishly abandoned his implied threat of punishment at lesson's end?  Or was it simply a sadistic act against a 14 year old pupil to provide himself with a hilarious tale in the staff room at break-time of how he'd 'got one over' on that 'odious Robson creature'?

To this day, whenever I hear old classmates mention what a 'great guy' Mr. Valentine was, I smile a knowing smile, and think "Not to me he wasn't!"  And, way back then, I always changed channels whenever his smug, hypocritical kipper popped up on Songs of Praise on the telly.  He might've fooled the rest of them, but not me, no siree!

His name may be Valentine, but he sure ain't no saint!  That's him below.  If you ever see him scoffing some Smarties, knock them out of his hand for me.

******

Did anyone else ever suffer similar 'schooltime scandals'?  Feel free to unburden yourself in the comments section.

FRANKIE STEIN - In FULL COLOUR! A SUPER SUNDAY SPECIAL SELECTION...

Copyright REBELLION

Ye old blog host hasn't been feeling too well for the last couple of days so new posts have been a bit thin on the ground.  However, to try and make up for it, here's a reprint from WHAM! that appeared in the 1976 FRANKIE STEIN Summer Special.  The reproduction of these original KEN REID classics wasn't that great in the reprints, but hopefully you'll enjoy seeing it in colour for the first time.

The only other times (that I know of ) where Frankie appeared in colour were in the '66 & '67 Wham! Annuals, so it wasn't too common an occurrence.  I also own the original Wham! issue in which this strip was first published, but, alas, it's in a bound volume which I can't open wide enough to scan properly in order to provide a comparison.

  

And I think that's a ROBERT NIXON illustrated logo adorning the strip, replacing the original Ken Reid one, but it's hard for me to say with any certainty as the reproduction isn't too clear and I'm not at my best at the moment.  Again, anyone else know for sure?

******

I've just discovered the existence of a book containing the complete Frankie Stein and JASPER The GRASPER strips, called KEN REID IN WHAM!  There are photos at PHIL'S COMICS, where it sold at auction for £68 back in 2011.  (The starting bid for another copy was £100 in the same year.)  Apparently it was privately commissioned by a collector who wanted all the Ken Reid Wham! strips in a single, high-quality volume.  Can anyone supply any further details?

A ZERO X ADVENTURE - By RON TURNER...

Copyright relevant owner

The recent MIKE NOBLE and RON TURNER pages I've featured seem to have garnered a fair amount of approval, so I've decided to go with more of the same.  This time around it's a ZERO X story from the TV CENTURY 21 Annual for 1968. Just look at those vibrant colours and fantastically futuristic designs.  What more could anyone ask for?  (Apart from the winning numbers from a rollover lottery draw - but you can't have everything.)

So, enjoy the following pages - then leave your thoughts about them in the handy-dandy comments section.  Go on - you know how you love seeing your name in print.  (Oh yes you do!) 

MIGHTY MIKE NOBLE'S STAR TREK - FINAL PART...

Copyright relevant owner

As KIRK and SPOCK's battle with the malevolent COLLECTOR reaches its climax, note once again what a dynamic artist and natural sequential storyteller MIKE NOBLE is.  I doubt that any comic strip version of TV's STAR TREK was ever better drawn, even ones hailing from the TV series' country of origin, the good ol' USA.

TV21 was practically on its last legs at this stage, with only 61 more issues to go before merging with VALIANT in 1971.  A sad end to what had once been Britain's best-selling comic by a wide margin.  It went out not with a bang or even a whimper, but merely the ghost of a sigh.

Alas, poor TV21 - I knew it well!  However, its memory lives on, and I'm glad to be able to share these fantastic pages with you here.  Hope you enjoyed 'em - and look out for more soon.

CALCULATOR KID...

Take a look at the above SHARP Scientific calculator, bought from W.H. SMITH's (or was it WOOLWORTH's?) in Portsmouth Shopping Centre (or was it Southsea?) in February or March of 1985.  (The ol' memory is beginning to fail me, I'm afraid.  Let's just go with my first impressions - there must be some good reason why they were at the front of the queue.)  Amazingly, the original batteries lasted for about 23 years before needing to be replaced, which surely must be some kind of a record.  (Much like the 12 inch black plastic disc with a hole in the middle up in my attic.)

I've addressed this subject before, but it always amazes me how having a tangible reminder from a particular point in time brings home one's recollections of the period in much sharper focus than would otherwise be the case.  Memories somehow seem dimmer and more distant without a physical manifestation to accompany them.  When I look at the above calculator, it's almost as if I'm back in my bedsit room in Fratton, using my newly-acquired SHARP EL-508A to add up my weekly earnings from my freelance work for IPC MAGAZINES in London.

Just think - I've now had that calculator for more than half my life, although sometimes, when I'm lost in dreams of days gone by, it seems as if it's still a fairly recent acquisition.  Then it's as if someone's suddenly hit the fast-forward button, and the movie-clip playing in my head of that particular time accelerates to the present day - making me realize, with a start, just how much water has gone under the bridge since those days back in the mid-'80s actually took place.

I'll bet the following has happened to you.  You've sat down to watch a movie on TV which you remember seeing being reviewed a couple or so years back when it was doing the rounds in cinemas.  "Wanted to see that at the time," thinks you, "so I'll watch it now!"  After it finishes, you see the copyright date in the credits and nearly fall off your chair.  "1995?  No way!  It only came out about 2 or 3 years ago!"  Go on, admit it - it's happened a few times I'll bet.  And you know you're getting older the more often it occurs because, as we all know, time seems to pass much faster the older we get.

Anyway, now that I've suitably depressed you with thoughts of how brief life is, wouldn't it be great if you could punch in a figure on a calculator, hit the subtract button, and somehow suddenly find yourself magically younger by that very number of years?  Why aren't scientists working on such a device as I type this fanciful nonsense?  If they're not, they should be.  I'd be first in the queue to buy one.   

50 YEARS Of The DALEKS! So... DOCTOR WHO?

The DALEKS copyright BBC TV and the Estate of TERRY NATION

I simply must tell you all about the existence of this great magazine I picked up from WH SMITH's today - The DALEKS!  Published by PANINI (who also produce DWM), it's priced at £9.99 and is worth every penny.

As well as some great photos of Daleks merchandise, it also reprints two complete stories - from the original artwork - of the back page strip from TV CENTURY 21, including the very first 3-page adventure illustrated by RICHARD JENNINGS, as well as a later 6-pager by RON TURNER.  And it contains a whole load of other goodies too numerous to mention.

(On the first 3 strip-pages, it looks as if clean copies of the original Daleks logo-box have replaced the old ones (especially on the first strip), which had probably dropped off the artboards long ago.  Also, the gutter which separates them seems slightly wider than before, and masks-off a minuscule portion of the one on the first page.  But, hey - it's a minor quibble.)

  

As is typical of WHS, the mag isn't placed where anyone would expect it to be, which is why I hadn't noticed it before on any of my regular browsing sessions.  Instead of being put alongside DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE and other SF publications, it's stuck on a shelf in a corner of the shop where nobody looking for it would think to look for it.  Why they didn't put a few copies where people would expect it to be, plus another few where they did put it, I'll never know.  I've told them enough times in regard to BEANO Summer Specials and the like.

Anyway, take it from me - not to be missed!  

DALEK SWEET CIGARETTE CARDS - PART THREE...

Copyright BBC TV and the Estate of TERRY NATION

Well, let's not waste a second with inane chit-chat from me, but instead get straight to the pretty pictures featuring the friendly, loveable rascals from the planet SKARO - The DALEKS.  They might have a bad rep, but they're simply misunderstood metal-clad mutants who want to take over the universe.  How could anyone in their right mind possibly object to that?

These cards were produced by a confectionary company called CADET way back around the mid-'60s, and included with packets of sweet cigarettes - and that's all you really need to know.