DOES THIS HAVE THE X-FACTOR? THE OFFICIAL MARVEL INDEX PART ONE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS.  Cover by SANDY PLUNKETT

The very first MARVEL Indexes (or Indices, if you prefer) were published by PACIFIC COMICS DISTRIBUTORS around 1976-'82 and then by MARVEL COMICS themselves, who've issued various versions over the years.  Two of the best were The X-MEN and The AVENGERS series in 1987, the former being six issues and the latter seven.

What distinguished them from earlier and later versions was the fact that the cover reproductions were printed almost full-size, and the odd variation aside, were mostly faithful to how they'd been originally published.  They also sported some nice new cover art, and 'pin-up' splash pages by various then-current Marvel artists.

Have a look at the first three and, if you like them, let me know and I'll post the other three; then perhaps I might let you have a peek at The Avengers Index.  Go on - whaddya say?

Splash page by JOHN ROMITA Jr. & KLAUS JANSON

Cover by WALT SIMONSON

Splash page by WALT SIMONSON

Cover by TOM GRINDBERG & TOM PALMER

Splash page by TOM GRINDBERG & TOM PALMER

TOMORROW'S HERO TODAY! JOHNNY FUTURE - PART THREE...

Copyright REBELLION

Ol' JOHN FOSTER's certainly got his work cut out for him and no mistake.  We know he'll triumph eventually, but it's how he achieves those victories that provides the chills, spills and thrills and  keeps us enthralled right to the very end.  Of course, LUIS BERMEJO's spectacular artwork is the main draw (no pun intended), and it's just a monumental shame that FANTASTIC absorbed its companion paper TERRIFIC and (one last appearance in an Annual apart) effectively ended the adventures of JOHNNY FUTURE, Britain's MAN Of TOMORROW.

However, take heart. You can relive JF's titanic tussles right here on CRIVENS! - the U.K.'s brightest, boldest and best blog on comicbooks, cartoons and collectables.  (As voted by me and two of my pals - so it's official!) 

PART TWO OF DOCTOR WHO'S FIRST-EVER COMIC STRIP -

Copyright BBC TV.  Art by NEVILLE MAIN

In this post back in November, I showed part one of the first-ever comic strip featuring DOCTOR WHO from TV COMIC #675, cover-dated November 21st 1964.  Thought you might like to see part two, as reprinted - in colour - from DOCTOR WHO CLASSIC COMICS #2, cover-dated January 6th, 1993.

Want to see part three?  Then lemme know, frantic one.

POIROT - LOOPY LAPSES In LOGIC DEPT...

I'm a big fan of the POIROT TV series, wherein the Belgian super-sleuth was definitively portrayed by DAVID SUCHET.  Of course, PETER USTINOV did a fine job prior to Mr. Suchet, and ALBERT FINNEY won an award for his role as the detective in MURDER On The ORIENT EXPRESS.  I don't really understand why, to be honest, as - good actor that Mr. Finney undoubtedly is - his version of Poirot was awful.  His accent was all over the place, he sounded like he had a sore throat, and his performance was more suited to a pantomime than a big-budget movie.

But that's by the by.  I've just watched The MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR At STYLES and was reminded of a glaring absurdity that no one seems to have picked up on.  I read the book quite a while back, but I'm unsure after all this time if the TV episode takes certain bold liberties with AGATHA CHRISTIE's plot (as TV programmes often do) or whether it's faithful to how the authoress described events.  If it's the case of the latter, then Agatha made a big-time boo-boo.  (In fact, 'twas the TV show's oversight.  See comments for details.)

So get this: The desperate murderer is in his victim's bedroom sometime after the fact, recovering a letter which incriminates him.  He hears Poirot and company approaching along the hallway, stops to tear the letter into three vertical strips, twists them into tapers ('spills' Poirot calls them) for lighting the fire and pops them in with some others in a vase atop the fireplace.  Then - get this - he exits through an adjoining door and makes himself scarce.

So here's my problem: Why didn't he simply take the letter with him and destroy it at his convenience, rather than leave it for Poirot to eventually discover and identify him as the murderer?  To say nothing of risk getting caught by taking the time to tear the letter into strips.  It makes absolutely no sense and is a 'crime' against logic, to say nothing of common sense.

It's a crime I'd like to see Poirot solve, but why not play detective and see if you can come up with a reasonable-sounding explanation for this loopy lapse in logic? You all know where the comments section is - so what are you waiting for?

(Incidentally, "Because then there wouldn't have been a story" won't be considered an acceptable answer.)

GERRY ANDERSON'S TV CENTURY 21 COVER GALLERY - PART FIVE...

Characters copyright relevant owners

I reckon it's time for another ten covers of Britain's best-ever comic of the '60s - TV CENTURY 21.  With a headline that's topical for today, issue 46 features a photo of one of the fantasy females of my childhood - ATLANTA SHORE.  (Fancying a puppet - I was a right little perv and no mistake!)  I'm sure that most of you will know that LOIS MAXWELL, alias MISS MONEYPENNY from the JAMES BOND films, was the voice of hoverchair-bound COMMANDER SAM SHORE'S daughter - and if you didn't, you do now!

I wish that someone would publish deluxe, actual-size omnibus collections of at least the first 104 issues of TV21 (when it had The DALEKS), as it would be good to have sturdy, high-quality volumes of this classic comic from 100 years in the future.  It's increasingly unlikely it will happen, as the 'nostalgia market' target audience it would appeal to is dwindling with every passing year.  If I ever win the Lottery, I'd publish them myself - even at a loss -  simply because it would be good to preserve such a treasure for future generations.

Anyway, enjoy the covers on offer, and if you'd like to share any reminiscences relating to them, feel perfectly free to do so.

This was either the last issue bought while in the house we'd lived in for only 15 months, or the first one
bought in the house we moved to.  My uncertainty is because TV21 seems to have gone on sale only three
days before the cover date, whereas most British comics traditionally came out the week before

DETECTIVE COMICS #27...

Images copyright DC COMICS

DETECTIVE COMICS #27 is the first of The NEW 52 series that I've actually bothered reading and, for the most part, I actually enjoyed it.  I bought a few early issues of the relaunched titles when they first came out, but after browsing through them, felt less then compelled to devote any serious attention to them.  (And this from a guy who loves comics and wants to read them.)  They just seemed so pretentious - and underwhelming.

However, I liked this issue's cover, so I brought it home from a local Glasgow comicbook store several weeks back and have just got 'round to reading it recently.  The mag celebrates The BATMAN's history and contains 7 stories, the first of which is called - aw, you guessed - "The CASE Of The CHEMICAL SYNDICATE!"  There are several pin-ups from various creators which are worth seeing, so if you're lucky, your local comics shop might yet have an odd copy or two lingering on the shelves.

You know what?  I may even buy #28 & 29, as one of the stories is a three-part tale.  It's a long time since I've felt like that about a modern comic, that's for sure.

GOING ONCE - GOING TWICE - GONE! (AND NOT COMING BACK EITHER)...

Marx Yogi Bear toy.  He'll be with me 'til I croak

As I sit in my cavernous Kid-Cave, luxuriating in all my tremendous treasures - toys, books, comics, records, etc. - I sometimes wonder what will happen to them all when I'm no longer around to cherish and protect them.  I'd like to think I'll have established a museum of childhood of the 1960s & '70s by then, but if I were to drop off the twig tomorrow, they could end up in a skip or charity shop - and, to be perfectly truthful, I'm uncertain as to which of these options is the greater evil.

When LEWIS CARROLL (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, to give him his real name) died, his possessions were auctioned off, leading one of his friends, Frederick York Powell, to pen the following poem in despair at how his comrade's beloved belongings were disposed of.

At a Certain Auction...

                                         Poor playthings of the man that's gone,

                                         Surely we would not have them thrown,

                                         Like wreckage on a barren strand,

                                         The prey of every greedy hand.

                                         Fast ride the dead!  Perhaps 'tis well!

                                         He shall not know, what none would tell,

                                         That gambling salesmen bargain'd o'er

                                         The books he read, the clothes he wore,

                                         The desk he stood at day by day

                                         In patient toil or earnest play,

                                         The pictures that he loved to see,

                                         Faint echoes of his fantasy.

                                         He shall not know.  And yet, and yet,

                                         One would not quite so soon forget

                                         The dead man's whims, or let gain riot

                                         Among the toys he loved in quiet:

                                         Better by far the Northman's pyre,

                                         That burnt in one sky-soaring fire

                                         The man with all he held most dear.

                                         'He that hath ears, now let him hear.'

So I suppose that's another option open to me - just get everything cremated with me, but it's not one I'm too keen on.  I'd like my treasures to survive my passing, and, as long as I knew they would be looked after, other people would get to see and enjoy them as I once did.  And if they knew that all these wonderful things had once belonged to me, that would be the icing on the cake.

Ah, I can see it now.  The Kid Robson Museum of Childhood.  (No children permitted, of course.  They'd only break something.)

However, here's a question for all of you:  What would you like to happen to your most treasured material possessions when you're pushing up the daises?  Why not share your hopes with your fellow Criv-ites in the comments section.  And no cheating - none of that "I don't care, I'll be dead!" cop-out nonsense. 

FLIPPIN' 'ECK! IT'S FREAKY FRANKIE STEIN...

Copyright REBELLION

As a special treat (seeing as how you've all been behaving yourselves this last little while), here's an episode of FRANKIE STEIN from WHAM! #43, cover-dated April 10th 1965.  That means it more than likely came out on or around the 3rd, so you can argue amongst yourselves as to whether I'm early or late with it, seeing as how this is the 9th.  (Though considering it's 49 years old, it's certainly late regarding the year, even if not the month.)

Another KEN REID strip from when he was at the top of his game, I'm sure you'll agree.  Feel free to express your immense gratitude in the Criv-ites comments section.

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)