The FIRST-EVER MARVEL COMIC...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

In 1990, MARVEL released a hardback reprint of MARVEL COMICS #1.  Truth to tell, it wasn't up to much, due to the fact that restoration of old comicbook pages from published comics was very much still in its infancy.  (Technology has come on in leaps and bounds since then.)  If you compare the second SUB-MARINER page below with the first, you'll notice that a lot of the detail was lost in whatever process was used to 'bleach' out the colour, and the finished result was less than satisfactory.  (Particularly obvious in panel 2.)

Scan of photo of printed page from actual issue of Marvel Comics #1

Scan of page from 1990 reprint volume

Scan from 2009 70th Anniversary edition

Marvel had another go in 2009 with a 70th Anniversary edition, this time in comicbook format.  The reproduction was of a far superior quality (as you can see from the page directly above), and the modern colouring techniques gave it a whole new dimension.  Sadly, it didn't include the two text pages reproduced in the 1990 volume, but I've posted them here for your perusal.

Now examine the HUMAN TORCH and KA-ZAR pages below.  Frankly, I'd be more than a little surprised if anyone actually preferred the 1990 reprints to the 2009 versions, which have their predecessors beat all hollow, in my famously humble opinion.  Still, I'd be interested to read the views of anyone who's less than impressed by them, so do feel free to comment.

Finally, the cover to the 2009 comicbook - a 'painted-over' version of the original 1939 illustration, I believe.  Looks great to my eyes.  However, for those not satisfied, the issue was also released with an alternate, modern take on the cover.

So how do I top that?  Well, how about this STAN LEE autographed page from the 1990 hardback edition?  That sure  is a hard act to follow, don't you think?  And it's mine!  (The whole book, not just the page.)

 

SUPERMAN'S DAD - PART TWO Of JOHNNY FUTURE...

Copyright REBELLION

It's really a rather obvious connection to make when you think about it.  The clue is in the names - JOHNNY FUTURE and The MAN Of TOMORROW!  So - what's the 'missing link' between the two awesome appellations?  SUPERMAN!  Here's how it happened in the fevered depths of my imagination.

JOR-EL, concerned about the impending demise of his home-world KRYPTON, has been observing our Earth through a space-time warp for many months.  It seems like the best choice of planets to which he can send his infant son - if and when he perfects the hyper-drive of the spaceship he's working on.  He's already built a prototype, but needs to test it before he can risk using it as a space ark for little KAL-EL.

So, donning a replica suit of 20th century Earth-style clothes, he rockets to our planet with the intention of confirming that it would be a suitable environment for his young son.  He crash-lands in the African jungle, but although uninjured, a small radiation leak from the ship's hyper-drive power unit transforms him into a hulking brute of incredible strength and limited intellect, who comes to be known as The MISSING LINK.  Exposed once more to leaking radiation from a nuclear power plant, he returns to normal, but with no recollection of who he is.

If you've been following the Johnny Future strips I've been featuring here from time to time (or read them in FANTASTIC back in the '60s), then you already know the rest.  However, what you didn't know (until now) is that, after his 'career' as a superhero on Earth for many months, Jor-El's memory returns and he makes his way back to the jungle to repair his ship and return to Krypton mere seconds after he left.  (Due to that ol' space-time warp, remember?)  The rest, as they say, is history.

However, there's more.  Writer JERRY SIEGEL originally envisioned Superman being rocketed to Earth, not from Krypton, but from a doomed Earth far in the future.  Similarly, in my version of events, Earth is Krypton (having evolved over thousands of years and - due to an ever-expanding universe - now occupying a different place in the heavens than it used to).  The globe has been renamed and our once bright yellow sun has succumbed to the second law of thermodynamics (entropy) and is now a fiery red, affecting the gravitational pull of the planet.

So - Earth's first 'superman' is actually Superman's father.  Johnny Future sired The Man of Tomorrow!

Anyway, that's how it happened in my little world.  Bear it in mind as you read the latest instalment of this fondly-recalled strip illustrated by the astounding LUIS BERMEJO - it may make you view the character just a little bit differently.

WAS JACK KIRBY A LOSER? OUR FIGHTING FORCES COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright DC COMICS.  Cover by JOE KUBERT

Well, not exactly, but you can bet he drew upon his own war-time experiences when he took over The LOSERS strip in DC COMICS' Our FIGHTING FORCES mag in the '70s.  KIRBY nearly lost his legs during the Second World War due to frostbite, and he saw plenty of action as a scout, having to enter enemy-occupied territory to draw reconnaissance maps for Company F of the 11th Infantry Regiment.  As has been noted by those who knew him, these tales contain more of a personal dimension than just about any others that Kirby ever produced, which is why they can still strike a chord even with those who are fortunate enough never to have been actual participants in the bloody field of battle.

Here, then, are the covers to the dozen issues of Our Fighting Forces that Jack wrote and drew for DC in 1974/'75.

   

Cover by JACK KIRBY & MIKE ROYER

Cover by JACK KIRBY & D. BRUCE BERRY

Cover by JACK KIRBY & D. BRUCE BERRY

Cover by JACK KIRBY & D. BRUCE BERRY

Cover by JACK KIRBY & MIKE ROYER

Cover by JACK KIRBY & MIKE ROYER

Cover by JACK KIRBY & MIKE ROYER

Cover by JACK KIRBY & MIKE ROYER

Cover by JOE KUBERT

Cover by JOE KUBERT

Cover by ERNIE CHAN (as CHUA)

BRITAIN'S FANTASTIC MAN Of TOMORROW Is BACK! PART ONE...

Copyright REBELLION

From the pages of Britain's FANTASTIC, we now enter the home run in re-presenting the adventures of former MISSING LINK, the incredible JOHNNY FUTURE!  Illustrated by Spanish artist LUIS BERMEJO, the final episode appeared in Fantastic #51, the week before it subsumed ODHAMS' companion POWER COMIC title, TERRIFIC.  A victim of having to make way for MARVEL reprints in the combined weekly, Johnny is nonetheless still fondly-remembered to this very day.  Now you can see why!

Only 12 more episodes to go - don't miss 'em!

Extra Bonus:  Below is a patch that was pasted over the original head on this episode's first page.  That means whoever now owns the art for these pages is missing the 'published' head.  It came into my possession when I acquired the original boards for the subsequent episode nearly 30 years ago.

SMASH! COVER GALLERY - PART FIVE...

Copyright REBELLION

I'd imagine that American readers aren't much interested in U.K. comics they've never read (or even heard of), but British readers of a certain age are bound to get a big thrill at seeing the covers of one of the fondly-remembered comics of their childhood - SMASH!  Looking again at these covers takes me back to an earlier era, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds himself recalling days of long ago as though they were only yesterday upon sight of these images from the 1960s. 

At 40 pages per weekly issue, with each page containing twice the content of a U.S. comicbook, Smash! was certainly great value for money at a mere 7d  (about 3 and a half pence in decimal currency).  If only such days could come again, and Great Britain could once more revel in a thriving comics industry, as opposed to the rather lacklustre remnant we have today.

If you've any thoughts on the matter, or any personal reminiscences about Smash! (like wistful recollections of a specific cover), then the Criv-ites comments section is waiting to hear from you.  Come on now - don't be shy!

LEO BAXENDALE'S 'A VERY FUNNY BUSINESS'...

Images copyright relevant owner

Here's a book that everyone should read, although lovers of comics fortunate enough to have grown up any time during the '50s, '60s & '70s will be particularly able to relate to it.  To those too young to have experienced the times first-hand, this engrossing tome will still manage to conjure up images of a long-vanished era when there were more weekly periodicals for children on sale in British newsagents than you could shake a stick at.

It tells the story of LEO BAXENDALE's humble beginnings as an aspiring cartoonist, and his ultimate triumph as one of Britain's pre-eminent contributors to the U.K. comics scene - arguably 'the' pre-eminent contributor. He shone at D.C. THOMSON's (where perhaps the only strip artist held in greater esteem was DUDLEY D. WATKINS) and then led the charge against his erstwhile employers by creating a 'Super BEANO' for ODHAMS, although, sadly, the comic (WHAM!) managed to survive for only three and a half too-short years.

From The Beano, dated 21st June 1958

Next was IPC/FLEETWAY, where again he stood almost atop the heap - until he decided to quit comics due to his dissatisfaction at not being paid for reprints of his earlier work.  What should have happened next is an unending line of hilarious WILLY The KID Annuals, but alas, 'twas not to be; after only three books, his contract with DUCKWORTH's was not renewed and, as far as mainstream comics were concerned, he languished in limbo, only known through occasional reprints of his earlier comics work and other artists emulating his style.

Simply put, this is a great book and, as I said, if you were a youngster in the times Baxendale re-creates in startling clarity through his rigorously-recalled reminiscences, this is a 'must-read' for you.  I got my copy back in 1978 in GRANT'S Bookshop in Glasgow, but one thing I regret doing at the time is purchasing the softcover edition instead of the hardcover volume.  (I really should've bought both!)

Nevertheless, if you're a comics fan of yesteryear, or an admirer of the man who helped change the face of traditional British comics forever, then you should get straight onto eBay and see if you can track down a copy.

    

PART FOUR Of JOHN BYRNE'S FANTASTIC FOUR - COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Right, let's not waste a second - there are ten lovely FANTASTIC FOUR covers to be savoured, so let's get straight into them.  If you have any favourites, don't be shy about telling your fellow Criv-ites all about them in the comments section.

COR!! MONKEYING AROUND WITH GUS...

Copyright REBELLION

Funny how you forget things, isn't it?  For instance, I must have had this  COR!! Annual for 1972 at one time, but I don't really have any firm recollections of it - although, as I study the cover, it starts to seem faintly familiar, like some dim, elusive, half-remembered dream.  I know I had it though, because it contains all six episodes of JASPER The GRASPER, drawn by KEN REID, which I first read many years ago - but not in the pages of WHAM!, the comic in which they first appeared in 1965.  (I didn't buy that particular periodical until it started publishing The FANTASTIC FOUR in '66.)

So, as I say, I know I had it - and now I've got it again!  So here's the cover for all you crazed Criv-ites to gaze upon.  And remember - "You can't make a monkey out of Gus!"

LAST GASP FOR WHAM! & POW!

Copyright REBELLION

WHAM! & POW! Annual 1974 is a curious entry in the world of yearly book publishing for kids.  Firstly, Wham! had only just managed to get one issue over the doorstep of 1968 before merging with Pow!, and secondly, Pow! itself merged with SMASH! only eight months later.  So, both weekly titles had been extinct for around five years when the Annual for 1974 made its debut in newsagents in '73.

However, that's not what makes it a 'curious entry', because previous Annuals for both comics had been issued in the wake of their demise.  There were Wham! Annuals for '69-'72, although the contents of the last one bore no relation to the weekly it represented, and Pow!, too, had Annuals for the years '69-'72, the last two again failing to include any content recognisable to former readers of the weekly.  As the '71 Annual still bore the name of ODHAMS as publisher, the absence of familiar strips was even more of a mystery.

However, all the books issued after the demise of the comics retained the same masthead design of their weekly counterparts - apart from the Wham! & Pow! one for 1974, which had new versions (although they retained something of the spirit of the originals).  Surprisingly, the book featured strips of characters that had actually appeared in the weeklies, so the tweaking of the masthead design seems odd under the circumstances - especially as the previous combined book for 1973 sported the original logos, but no familiar content.

As well as filler material from other sources, the 1974 book had SAMMY SHRINK, FOOTSIE The CLOWN, GEORGIE'S GERMS, PEST Of The WEST, BABY WHAMSTER, KICKS, The CLOAK, and The TWO FACES Of JANUS.  I'm left to wonder why the Annual should return to its roots so long after abandoning them.  Had IPC perhaps received complaints from buyers of some of the previous Annuals who'd been disappointed by the absence of their once-favourite strips?  It makes sense, in that former readers who bought the books would surely expect to see characters they knew, not strangers.

When I freelanced for IPC, they had a policy regarding reprints that meant they wouldn't re-use a strip until it was at least five years old.  (I think this was later changed to three.)  As the '74 Annual was all reprint (as far as I'm aware), this would explain the presence of the strips included therein, as they were now eligible for reprinting.  Perhaps IPC had decided that this was going to be the 'last gasp' for Wham! and Pow! and they wanted to draw things to a close as they'd began - with strips that actually represented the two comics at their finest.

Unfortunately, I can't scan any of the interiors without cracking the spine, apart from these two colour pages at the end of the book (by CAPTAIN PUGWASH creator JOHN RYAN).  Ironic, eh?  The only strip I can show you isn't one that summons the spirit of what either comic was actually like.

FRANKENSTEIN: The TRUTH THEY TRIED TO HIDE...

You're looking at old photos of a corpse unearthed in 1901 that proves the FRANKENSTEIN legend is true.  Apparently, MARY SHELLEY based her 1818 tale of horror on rumours of an artificial man, created by German resurrectionist and surgeon LIPAR OFLO in 1800.  In 1869, Hungarian KAJOK VASALAS, intrigued by the persistent assertions that the novel was based on true events, spent over 30 years investigating the claims and, with the financial backing of a group of sympathetic seekers after truth, finally tracked down the cadaver, which was preserved in an air-tight, salt-filled casket in the cellars of The Royal Czech Society of Sciences.

(The 'experts' could not dispute that here, indeed, was a being stitched together from the parts of other corpses, but doubted that such a creature ever actually drew the breath of life.  Until, that is, the remains of half-digested food were found in its stomach.)

It turns out that JACK PIERCE, credited with creating the make-up for BORIS KARLOFF's portrayal of the monster in 1931, actually used photos of the corpse as reference.  Pierce came originally from Greece and his real name was JANUS PICCOULA; his uncle, DEMIS PICCOULA, was a high-ranking professor of the Society, and supplied him with copies of the photographs upon learning that UNIVERSAL were planning to produce the movie.  However, when the other members saw the success of  the horror classic, they threatened to sue Universal unless a substantial amount of money was donated to Society funds.  A deal was eventually struck, on the condition that no mention ever be made that the visage of Universal's monster was anything other than an original creation, and that the corpse's existence should not be revealed for at least 80 years.

But why would Universal be afraid of the truth becoming common knowledge?  Presumably because the film, despite its huge commercial success, came in for much criticism at the time from church groups, appalled by the suggestion that mere Man was capable of usurping the role of the one true Creator.  If it were ever to become known that the motion picture was based on demonstrably true historical events, the public backlash against the studio would have been immense.  It's also likely that the Society would have claimed copyright of the image and deprived the studio of millions of dollars in merchandising potential.

However, the truth is now out!  In order to meet the cost of preserving the DNA-tested and authenticated remains, the Society has gone public with the story, Universal's arrangement having only been legally enforceable until 2011.  A major television documentary is now in the works, telling the true story of  facts concealed from the public from as far back as 1931.

Truth, as they say, is often stranger than fiction.

******

The corpse is currently stored in refrigerated conditions in what is now known as The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, formerly The R.C.S.S.  A BBC documentary, FINDING FRANKENSTEIN:  The TRUE STORY Of A  MONSTER, will be screened in November.

******

And now, an important word from our sponsor:

Yes, you're right - it is an APRIL FOOL!

The photos are 'borrowed' from ROBBY's CLASSIC MOVIE MONSTERS blog.  The monster was made by MIKE HILL, and the photos were taken by STAN WONG (with a little tweaking from me).  So, did you fall for it?  Nah?  Oh well... next time.