PART TWO OF MARVEL'S DOCTOR WHO COVER GALLERY...

DOCTOR WHO copyright BBC TV

Never one to rest on my laurels (though sometimes I'll relax on my hardies), I plunge once more into the frenetic fray with yet another generous helping of images from MARVEL's U.S. monthly mag from the mid-'80s. DAVE GIBBONS was the cover artist for these issues and, as ol' BRUCIE would say, didn't he do well?!  (That one will probably be lost on our American readers.)

Seeing as how the 50th Anniversary of The DOCTOR is coming up later this month, I thought I'd whet your appetite for all things WHO by teasing you with the accompanying awesome illustrations. And just think, you lucky peeps - there's still one more part to come featuring the final eight covers in the series.  Don't forget to be here!

Da-da-de-dum, da-da-de-dum, da-da-de-dum...

  

THE CHILDREN OF PAN...

Images copyright relevant owner

When Scottish-born author KENNETH GRAHAME wrote his literary classic The WIND In The WILLOWS at the beginning of the last century, his original title for the book was The Wind In The Reeds.  However, it was considered too similar to William Butler Yeats' novel, The Wind Amongst The Reeds, so Grahame offered yet another suggestion - The Children of Pan.  Other names were proposed, before the original title was amended slightly to the more alliterative one we all know and love today.

30 years ago (1983/'84), when I purchased the THAMES METHUEN edition featuring colour plates specially photographed on the set of the COSGROVE HALL TV movie, every single dustjacket in every single bookstore I visited had wrinkles marring the clear 'lamination' on the cover.  I bought the best one I could get and then contacted the publishers for a replacement dustjacket.  The one I received had the exact same problem (as you can see in the accompanying scans) so it seems that they were all printed with the same imperfection.

That aside, however, it's a nice little edition, so I thought I'd share the interior colour plates with those of you who may never have seen them before.  I don't know if this particular edition of the book is still available, but if you're looking for the ideal Christmas gift for your children, nieces or nephews (from 11 up), any one of a number of other versions of this classic tale would be a superlative choice.  (I'd recommend an ERNEST H. SHEPARD illustrated edition.)  The book hasn't been out of print since first published in 1908, so it must have something going for it.

And if you're an adult who hasn't yet read the book yourself, then why delay such a delightful adventure any longer?  You're in for a rare treat indeed.  Buy a copy now - before Mr. TOAD pays you a visit in his motor car.  POOP!  POOP!

   

Update, 4-5-'25: On Sunday 5th May 2024, I purchased another copy of this book via eBay, which arrived on Friday 10th.  The only difference is that it's a Book Club Associates edition and, thankfully, the cover lamination isn't crinkled in places.  Nice to have a spare. 

TV CENTURY 21 COVER GALLERY - PART THREE...

Copyright relevant owners

Time for another instalment in our TV CENTURY 21 cover gallery, this time featuring issues #21-30.  Hopefully, these will bring a warm glow of nostalgic recognition to those who read the comic as kids way back in the '60s.  Of course, as TV21 was dated a hundred years ahead, if any of us make it to 2065, we're due to meet our younger selves exiting the newsagent's, clutching a brand-spanking new edition of Britain's greatest comic.

Maybe our younger incarnations will allow their older selves to read the comics over their shoulders, eh?  Hey, Presto - full circle!

"The SEXY STARRY-EYED SIREN Of SPACE!" PART TWENTY-TWO Of FAVOURITE COMICS Of The PAST...

Images copyright DC COMICS

It is, of course, a total mystery as to what attracted my attention to the cover of SUPERMAN #243 back in 1971 or early '72.  After all, just take a look - a back view of a woman snogging the face off CLARK KENT's awesome alter-ego - what is there about it that could possibly entice the 12 or 13 year old boy I was at the time to choose it above all the other mags in the spinner-rack at my local newsagent's?

You recognize irony, I'm sure.  What attracted my attention?  Well, that derriere for a start.  That lithe, sinuous body, that long flowing hair - who wouldn't want to be the mighty MAN Of STEEL in a situation like that?  So, like the furtive little perv that I was, I bought it like a shot.

  

The captivating cover was by NEAL ADAMS, the interior story by the titanic team of SWANDERSON, and the STARRY-EYED SIREN Of SPACE was every bit as seductive inside the comic as she was on the cover.  I miss stories like this - complete and self-contained in one issue, backed-up by a FABULOUS WORLD Of KRYPTON tale and a SILVER ANNIVERSARY STORY for good measure.

I well remember sitting on the armchair next to the big brass log box beside the fireplace as I read this comic, the blue sky with a few fluffy white clouds clearly visible through the front window.  I can also recall drawing Superman's face from the middle of the big panel on page 5, and later drawing a strip in the simpler style of the Silver Anniversary story.  Happy memories of so very long ago, made almost tangible by seeing the images again while scanning them for this very post you're now reading.

   

Nowadays, comics seem to consist of talking heads for panel after panel and nothing much seems to happen from issue to issue.  I still buy some U.S. superhero comics, but - desperate as I am to like them - I find that I neglect them for months because nothing compels me to dig deeper after an initial browse-through.  Sometimes I don't read them at all, and they lie ignored and forgotten in a corner, gathering dust.  I almost feel sorry for them, poor abandoned little things.

Maybe I should sell them, but what if someone might think I'm only doing so because I'm a pauper who needs the dosh - obliging me to write a long, boring, self-indulgent blog post explaining that I'm not in debt and giving some of my chums the opportunity to write in and reassure me that they don't and never would think such a thing.  Oops!  Sorry - thought I was someone important whose circumstances anyone gives a fig about for a moment there.  (Don't worry if you haven't got a clue what I'm on about - you can be sure that somebody, somewhere, does.)

  

Anyway, returning to the real world (more or less), feel free to enjoy the various images from a comic that comes from a time when comics were entertaining month after month, and the reader didn't have to wait until the collected edition to work out what the hell the story was all about anyway.  Those were the days, sure enough!  Agree?  Either way, why not say what you think in the comments section.

REMEMBER, REMEMBER - FRANKIE STEIN'S FIREWORK FROLICS...

Wham! #73, November 6th 1965

Sharp-eyed readers amongst you will immediately notice that I've shown one of these pages before in a previous post some time back.  But, hey - this is KEN REID's FRANKIE STEIN strip from WHAM! we're talking about here. If anything is worthy of repeating, 'tis surely one of Britain's finest strips by one of Britain's greatest cartoonists. So, that said, have a laugh at Frankie's frolics and have some safe firework fun on the night of November 5th. Which happens to be tomorrow. (My, what a coincidence - would you credit it?) 

Wham! #125, November 5th, 1966

DC COMICS ARTIST NICK CARDY PASSES AWAY...

NICK CARDY, one of the DC COMICS greats, passed away late yesterday evening.  There will doubtless be many fine remembrances of him of a far more detailed nature than I'm capable of, so here's a few of his covers in tribute to him in the meantime.  I'll add to them throughout the day.

R.I.P. NICK CARDY

OCTOBER 20th, 1920 -
NOVEMBER 3rd, 2013