ADAM WARLOCK COVER & IMAGE GALLERY - PART THREE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

One comicbook series I'd have loved to see JIM STARLIN draw on a regular basis is The FANTASTIC FOUR - inked by JOE SINNOTT of course.  On the too-few occasions I saw Jim draw the FF, he seemed a good fit, and it's a shame that comicdom was denied his 'take' on MARVEL's foremost family in a regular series.

Anyway, here's the third and final part of Starlin's mid-'70s run on WARLOCK - lots of lovely covers and images from the last four issues in the series for you to swoon and drool over.

'THE BEST OF' - IPC/FLEETWAY COMIC MONTHLIES...

Copyright REBELLION

A while back, I started to scan some of the covers of various IPC/FLEETWAY comic monthlies, meaning to do a post on them.  Never finished any more than seven issues, so rather than have them languishing in limbo (my cupboard), I thought I'd just show them here.  Just look at those WHIZZER & CHIPS ones - they came out in 1984 - a few months short of 30 years ago, but I can remember buying them as clear as day as if it were only recently.  I just can't get my head around that.

As you can see, the July '85 ish of WHOOPEE has a number on it, which reminds me that it was Group Editor BOB PAYNTER who gave me it on one of my regular (weekly) jaunts down to London.  (2014 means that it was intended for office 14 on the 20th floor.)  I may also have got the August issue from Bob, but I'd have to check, because sometimes the numbers were written on the back.  Which ones do you remember, and did you have any favourites?

I'll dig out some more in the not-too-distant future and treat you all to yet another funfest of comic covers.  Stay tuned!

BABE Of The DAY - SARAH RAFFERTY...

Here's one babe that 'Suits' me right

down to the ground (how clever is that?)

 - SARAH RAFFERTY!  Luverly!

CONTROVERSY AHEAD - FEEL FREE TO SKIP IT...

See?  I can do irony!

Controversy ahead - feel free to skip it.

******

I see that a certain person continues to update his 'creative interpretations' of the facts over on his blog, claiming that I'm banned from a certain comics forum.  So, what do you call someone who knows that I resigned from the forum of my own volition, that any such 'ban' was issued after I'd quit (by a biased moderator whose stated reason for doing so was that I'd 'left the forum'), and that I'd declined an invitation by the site owner himself to return (still got the emails), thereby rendering any so-called 'ban' somewhat impotent, to say nothing of more than slightly ridiculous?  Just how do you 'ban' someone from a forum he's already left and declined to rejoin, and has no intention of trying to?  (How does that work?  "We don't want him back because he doesn't want to come back!") 

I'd call that person hardly credible and somewhat desperate in his attempt to malign me.  You can come up with any less-flattering descriptions on your own, as, every time I respond to his newest (and deliberate) provocation, he acts all innocent and accuses me of using the slightest excuse to 'attack' him.  Simple truth is, if he'd simply stop distorting the facts, I wouldn't then feel obliged to have to set the record straight.  Perhaps he'll learn - but I doubt it.

Incidentally, being the honest man that I am, I'm happy to point out, with regard to my earlier understanding that this person had also once been banned from the same forum, that the site owner today clarified his statement which seemed to suggest such, and has informed me that the individual withdrew himself from the forum for a period (on more than one occasion, apparently) and was not banned.  I will be correcting any earlier posts which allude to this in light of this newly received information.

Unlike some, I don't perpetuate inaccuracies (inadvertent or otherwise) when I become aware of them.  Now if only someone else would be big (and honest) enough to follow my example.

JAMES BROLIN IS JAMES BOND...

When ROGER MOORE was playing hard to get for

OCTOPUSSY (no doubt in an attempt to negotiate a higher

salary), actor JAMES BROLIN was screen-tested for the role
of 007.  He may even have been signed up (on the proviso that
big Rog didn't return), but it was not to be.  At the last moment,
Roger signed his name on the dotted line, and JB (that's Brolin,
not BOND) missed out on his big chance.  Anyway, here's
one of Brolin's screen tests so that you can decide for
yourself whether he'd have been any good or not.

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - CAROLINE MUNRO...

LAMB'S NAVY RUM and BOND

Girl, CAROLINE MUNRO, is today's babe!

Remember her in Dr. PHIBES and CAPTAIN

KRONOS - VAMPIRE HUNTER?  If she ain't

a babe then no one is!  Now, wipe that drool off

your chins 'cos you look utterly ridiculous and

that will simply not do, Crivvies.

AT LAST! SECRET ORIGINS Of The SUPER DC HEROES...

All images copyright DC COMICS

It just doesn't seem like 38 years since I first saw the above book advertised in the pages of a DC comic and thought how nice it would be to have one.  Back then, however, American items were far more difficult to come by for British readers unless they were also sold on these shores - and, alas, not everything was.  If the book was ever available in this country at the time, I never saw it - nor have I ever spoken to anyone who had a copy back then.

Fortunately (sometimes), the Internet has made our wide world a much smaller place, and today I gleefully received what appears to be a first edition of The SECRET ORIGIN Of SUPER DC HEROES.  For a book which is nearly 40 years old, the condition is immaculate, and my next step is to secure a protective clear 'library' sleeve for the dustjacket.  This was obviously an attempt by NATIONAL PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS (as DC was known at the time) to plough the same field that MARVEL had with ORIGINS Of MARVEL COMICS, which had been a best-seller a year or two before. 

Several copies of this book are currently on sale on eBay, in hardback and softcover editions, in various conditions, in prices ranging from around $30 right up to the $300 mark.  Believe me, I got it at an absolute steal for a fraction of that higher amount and less than the lower one.  So far, I've only had a chance to browse through it, and I've detected just one little mistake. The date of the 'creation' of the Silver Age FLASH is given as 1967 instead of '56, but let's assume it's just a typo and forgive it this one indiscretion.

However, rather than witter on about it, why not show you some of the interior pages?  No sooner said than done, faithful fans (of comics, not me) so hold onto your hats - we're off!

Okay, that's enough - there's no point in spoiling you.  However, just look at all the characters (below) covered in the book - nice, eh?   Might be worth a visit to eBay, don't you think?

SPECTRUM IS GO - ER, THUNDERBIRDS ARE GREEN, ER - OCH, SORT IT OUT FOR YOURSELVES...

Copyright relevant owner

At first I wasn't going to bother with this Annual, mainly because it wasn't quite a CAPTAIN SCARLET book or a THUNDERBIRDS one, but it was going dirt cheap on eBay so I decided to let the moths out of my wallet and grab it.  It arrived yesterday, and, as you can see, like all of the original GERRY ANDERSON based Annuals, there's no year on the cover.  This was no doubt to maintain the 21st century illusion (can't have a 20th century date on a book supposed to be from a hundred years in the future), but it also probably allowed newsagents and booksellers to keep it on sale for longer than normal.   It was published in 1969 for 1970, just as interest in the SUPERMARIONATION programmes was on the wane, which is perhaps why the decision was taken to issue a combination Annual rather than one for each programme.

Anyway, to give you a little taste of it, here's a titanic Thunderbirds tale illustrated by RON TURNER.  If you all behave yourselves, I may feature a Captain Scarlet story from the same book in a future post.  Wouldn't that be nice?  Speak up - I can't hear you.

BABE Of The DAY - The REAL DEAL THIS TIME - SOPHIA LOREN...

Apparently, yesterday's Babe of the

Day was a ringer, so here's the real deal!  I

 present - stunning SOPHIA LOREN. 

A NOTE TO ALL CRIV-ITES...

Just a quick post to thank all those who've joined my Blog.  I'd usually reciprocate by joining yours - which I have done in most cases - but I can't if it's on GOOGLE Plus 'cause I'm not a member.  I used to be, but it links everything up, so it meant signing out of one email account (for friends) before signing into another (for businesses) instead of just opening a different box (if that makes any sense), so I nixed it.  However, I want you to know you're all appreciated.

BABE Of The DAY - SOPHIA LOREN...?

What can I say?  No wonder FRANK

SINATRA and PETER SELLERS (and a

host of others) fancied the fabulous SOPHIA

LOREN (or in this case, a close facsimile). 

 Sing up - "Oh, goodness gracious me!"

ONE MAN'S MEAT? THAT IS THE QUESTION...

And now for something completely different...

"...for there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so." said HAMLET in Act II, Scene II of the classic play of the same name.  If that's true then we're all in trouble - and here's why.  Without a recognised standard of what's good or bad, right or wrong, society stands on the brink of chaos.  Another old saying, "One man's meat is another man's poison!" is a different way of saying the same thing.

Someone once told me that somewhere in Africa, there are tribes where fathers deflower their daughters (or perhaps it was uncles and nieces, I forget which) at around the age of 11-13.  They don't regard it as being bad, wrong, or evil, and don't have the same attitude towards it as you and I do.  In fact, not wishing to be crude, they actually think of it as 'sex education'.  Does the fact that they don't consider themselves to be doing anything wrong make it right?  I'd say no.

There's a huge outcry in sections of the media at the moment about female circumcision - also called female genital mutilation.  It sounds awful, though I entertain similar reservations about male circumcision, to be honest.  Some cultures have been performing these rituals for centuries and don't see anything wrong about them, but does being a tradition with apparently no moral stigma within the societies that indulge in such practices automatically make them right or acceptable?  I'd say not necessarily so.

Dramatic as it may sound, society is under threat.  All around are cries for the legalisation of drugs, government approved (and taxed) brothels, the lowering of the age of consent (to 13 - and that's just for starters), and all the standards to which society once aspired are seemingly being rejected wholesale.  After all, runs the argument, things are only bad if you think they are, so if you think something is good, why should you be denied it simply because 'narrow-minded' or unenlightened people disapprove?

I can't believe that people actually fall for such warped 'logic'.  For example, legalising drugs wouldn't take them out of the hands of criminals, it would merely supply them with a 'legitimate' business through which to launder profits from other illegal activities (and fund them).  Having state-approved brothels wouldn't protect all prostitutes from disease or attack, because there are always those (within all sections of society) who object, on 'principle', to declaring their income and having to pay tax on it, who would operate outside of such 'licensed' premises and go it alone.

Some people, it seems, believe that the most effective way to win the fight against crime is to abolish the very concept of criminality - legalise everything, that's their solution.  If we cease to think of things as bad, wrong or evil, then they're not - so there's no need to prosecute anyone for anything, is there?  Ridiculous,  isn't it?  Not everything is subjective, and when it comes to the nature of good and evil, right and wrong, society is far better served when it takes an objective stance on the subject.  When 'anything goes', usually everything goes - morals, ethics, standards, the lot!  And that's never a good thing, I've found.

Agree?  Disagree?  Couldn't care less?  The comments section, as always, awaits your response (if any)!

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - DIANA RIGG...

So why torture you all by withholding

Sunday's Babe of the Day for any longer than

I have to?  Only a sadist would deprive you of Miss

DIANA RIGG as EMMA PEEL in the above skimpy

rig-out, so here she is for you Crivs to drool over.  If you

didn't know, the character's name came about 'cause the

producers of The AVENGERS wanted a woman who

had bags of 'Man Appeal' - or 'M Appeal' for short.

Honest, that's how they chose her name (or so

the 'official' story goes anyway).

PANEL-BY-PANEL - BUSTER'S DIARY...

BUSTER had several good artists in his time, but possibly the best remembered (to those of a certain age) is ANGEL NADAL, who drew the strip from 1962 to '74. This particular page is from an issue dated October 29th, but unfortunately I don't know what year, as it's not noted on the back and I don't have the published comic in my collection to refer to.  (Update:  1966.)

If anyone happens to know the year of publication, or can supply a scan of the printed strip, feel free to say so in the comments section.  Luckily, when I get around to showing my other Buster artwork (a two-pager), I'll be able to show you the actual printed pages.  No, don't thank me - it's all part of the 'job'!

UPDATE:  Thanks to PHILIP CRAWLEY for alerting me to where I could find an image of the published page (www.bustercomic.co.uk), but I've now replaced with it a scan from my own, newly-acquired copy.

BABE Of The DAY - BARBARA EDEN...

If you ever dreamed of JEANNIE, then

you'll be in heaven with this pic of BARBARA

 EDEN.  Don't be rubbing that lamp now.

HOLY CAPES & COWLS - PART TWO OF TOPPS 1966 BATMAN CARDS...

Images copyright DC COMICS & TOPPS

NORMAN SAUNDERS was the artist who painted the TOPPS 1966 BATMAN cards, over layouts by BOB POWELL (though I'm unsure if this was the case with every card), and if you owned them back in the day you'll remember how striking they were.  And now all you lucky Criv-ites need no longer rely only on memory, as you can gaze upon yet another six cards in the spectacular series. 

These iconic images come from the 1989 Deluxe reissue edition cards, which, if anything, were superior to the originals, so paste your popping peepers upon these pulsating pics, you lucky lovers of nostalgia, you!

BABE Of The DAY - JESSICA RABBIT...

Copyright Touchstone/Disney

What's the matters with you all?  So

what if she's only a cartoon?  I definitely

would!  (You know what I mean.)  (And

Moonmando probably has!)

PAVING The WAY To The PAST...

Paving slabs - or sidewalk slabs as our American readers might call them.  Not that it much matters as I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about whichever term I use, but I thought it best to cover all the angles.  A number of years back (15 or 20 maybe), my local council started to replace paving slabs with the same substance they use on the roads - tarmacadam, I guess.  I don't like it to be honest, because it makes the streets darker and gloomier at night, as the substance doesn't reflect light from the streetlamps in the same way as lighter-coloured paving slabs do.

Also, it tends to sink - and crack - in places, resulting in an uneven, pock-marked surface not unlike an obstacle course, which makes walking more of an ordeal than it should be.  The tarmacadam paths in my area are currently being renewed, to make them safer and less patchwork, but no sooner have the workmen completed a stretch of street than residents are parking their cars up on the side of it, which is the main cause of the kerbsides being all cracked and crumbled to begin with.  The fact that people in wheelchairs or invalid buggies, or folk with prams or pushchairs, can't get by is ample testament to just how thoughtless and selfish some car owners can be.  But that's not the point of this post - I'll save that rant for another time.

There are some areas within my hometown which still have the original paving slabs from when they were first laid in the '50s and '60s.  Whenever I find myself walking on them, I'm struck by the fact that, in most cases, these are the same slabs that I actually walked on as a child and I feel connected to my past in a way that's difficult to adequately explain.  (But you know me - it won't stop me trying.)  I was visiting an old neighbourhood recently where some sections of street are as they were when I was a boy, and the sense of walking in my own footsteps was quite a fascinating one.  (For me anyway.)

These were the very slabs on which I walked as a youngster, on my way to the shops, or to school, or to visit a friend, and they were still there after all this time.  Much has changed about the world since they were first laid - industry, technology, society, etc., but the slabs have survived. Eventually, of course, they'll be replaced by tarmacadam, and a sense of sadness will assail my soul at their passing; yet another reminder that much of what encapsulates an earlier era - the era of my childhood and teenage years in particular - is slowly but ever-so-surely being wiped away, erased from reality as if it had never existed.  In time, that 'clean sweep' will catch up to me and I'll join the ranks of history, but it's odd to think that paths on which the Romans walked centuries ago will continue to outlast the ones on which you or I trod for a minuscule fraction of that time.

So next time you're out for a walk, give a thought to the slabs under your feet.  They were there when you were a child and their days may well be numbered.  True, that's a fate we'll all one day face, but it's a shame that the things of which our lives consist can't be with us to the end, don't you think?

Hopefully, I've paved the way for some contemplative reflection on your part - and some interesting comments in return.  C'mon, Criv-ites - don't let me down!  (Even if you don't quite understand what I'm wittering on about.)

BABE Of The DAY - LYNDSAY WAGNER...

Presenting lovely LYNDSAY

WAGNER, she of '70s The BIONIC

WOMAN fame.  I'd give her six million

dollars any time, just so long as it wasn't

mine.  (Somebody tell her not to point

'those' in my direction - they could go

off by accident, by crackey!)

LIVE & LET DIE CROCODILE JUMP...

Remember when JAMES BOND jumped across the backs of a row of crocodiles in LIVE & LET DIE?  It was done for real by the owner of the crocodile farm where the scene was shot.  The crocs' legs were weighed down, but their jaws were left untethered.  What you see now are all the attempts by ROSS KANANGA (born HIELMAN) to capture the scene for the 1973 movie starring the saintly ROGER MOORE.