ROLL UP, ROLL UP! The TITANS COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

As part of my constant quest to entertain all you Criv-ites, I now present the first part of The TITANS cover gallery, which will conclude with part six as there were only ever 58 issues published before it merged with SUPER SPIDER-MAN.  The Titans was an interesting mag, being the same size as MARVEL U.K.'s other weekly periodicals, but flipped on its side so that the bottom edge became the stapled spine. This allowed two reduced U.S. pages to be printed side by side, giving readers almost twice the content of other Marvel weeklies.

It's been said that The Titans was cancelled because it used up reprint material far too quickly, but Marvel is unlikely not to have anticipated this in advance.  It would've been a simple task to replace some strips with others when they started catching up with U.S. mags.  Besides, not all strips were presented complete in one issue, some being cut into two halves, with the second part appearing in the following ish.  Also, some splashes were redrawn to fill the full width of the page, effectively replacing two reduced U.S. pages, so Marvel certainly seems to have made allowances for the voracious nature of what was referred to as the 'landscape' format.

No 1's free gift colour poster

The fact is, had The Titans been the success that was hoped for, Marvel would've found the material to fill it, as no publisher ever cancels a hit mag.  And besides, they'd changed Spider-Man's comic into the same format, which they wouldn't have done had they been concerned about consuming their back-catalogue too rapidly. The simple fact is that sales gradually dropped off on The Titans and it was deemed to have gone as far as it could profitably go.

However, it was too good a name to lie dormant for long, and a few years later, the title and logo were revived for one of Marvel's Pocket Books.  However, that only lasted for 13 monthly issues, so the second incarnation, alas, fared no better than the first.  No need to shed too many tears over that sad fact now though, as we eagerly embark on a journey of rediscovery, ravenously revisiting The Titans' first ten of 58 certifiably classic covers.

And remember to come back for Part Two.  (You know how I hate to go anywhere by myself!)

Back cover to #7.  50p?  Aren't gifts supposed to be free?

BABE Of The DAY - JESSICA ALBA...

Gentlemen, once again I give

you JESSICA ALBA!  (Better put

some clothes on, love - you'll catch

your death of cold like that.)

The COMPLETE FABULOUS FANTASTIC FOUR POCKET BOOK COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Continuing our series of Pocket Book cover galleries, we now turn our attention to MARVEL's famous first family and gasp in awe at the 14 amazing covers laid before our startled eyes.  And, when I finally manage to extract the digit and track down a few missing issues, there'll be another 14 FABULOUS FANTASTIC FOUR covers for you to appreciate in the hopefully not-too-distant future.

In the meantime, you'll have to settle for the images in this post, but fret not.  Before you know it, you'll have the complete set to whisk your minds back to the early '80s, when you were much younger and friskier than you are now.  Okay, got your cup of Horlicks in hand?  Then let's go!

Update: Click here for Part Two.

BABE Of The DAY - LESLEY ANN WARREN...

Another sexy siren from the Babe of

the Day files, LESLEY ANN WARREN. 

Lesley's appeared in loads of movies and TV

shows, so I'm not going to even try listing any

of them.  You'll have to do the hard work for

yourselves, but at least I've given you the

 incentive to 'Get on to Google!'

DON'T GET BENT OUT Of SHAPE! HE'S HERE - The RUBBER MAN...

Copyright REBELLION

Oh, you lucky Criv-ites!  Here's yet another thrilling adventure of The RUBBER MAN from the SMASH! Annual for 1968 to help you recall your long-ago childhoods, when you had all your own teeth, all your own hair, and all your own Smash! Annuals.  And I've still got all three in those categories!  (Okay, I may be short of a few molars, but there's no falsies in my gob!)  Now, while you ponder which one of them you'd still rather have (read the strip first, of course), I'll get on with searching out something entertaining for the next post.

And if you'd like to leave a comment reminding me what a wonderful Blog CRIVENS! is, then feel entirely free!

BARRY & BOING - THEY'RE A KNOCKOUT...

Images copyright relevant owner

In answer to a request (and if you have one consisting of two words, the second of which is 'off', well, don't be so bloody cheeky), here's an eight-page BARRY & BOING adventure from the KNOCKOUT Annual for 1973.  No point saying much more as there's a recap of the first tale in the page above.  I'm lucky enough to own every issue of the weekly comic, so when I can find them, who knows - perhaps I'll post some more.  Be sure to let me know if that's something you'd like to see, O faithful, canny, and cavortin' Criv-ites.

  

And here's the cover so that you know what to look for.

The TITANS! NO CONTEST - BUT HAVE A GO ANYWAY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Here's another blast from the past.  Hands up if you entered this contest from The TITANS #2 back in 1975.  I did, and out of 100 runners up, I was one of ten who were specially commended for their efforts.  My prize of a Treasury Edition never reached me though, so I'm still a bit miffed over it.  When MARVEL published some of the entries, I noticed that someone had copied my GOGGLE-EYED GOON Of GLOUCESTER which had appeared on the back page of SHIVER & SHAKE a couple of years earlier.  I bet they got their prize, the thieving 'bar stewards'.  Why not print out a copy of this page and, just for fun, have a go at it?  Go on - you know you want to!

Looking at the contest results issue, I note that it says that Treasury Editions have been despatched to 90, not 100, runners-up, none of whom are listed.  The 10 'specially commended' entrants are listed though (including me), suggesting that those 10 are the 'top 10' of 100 runners-up.  So what happened?  Did my prize go missing in the mail, did Marvel forget to send it, did they only receive 90 prizes from the U.S. to send out, or did they simply change their mind afterwards?  Whatever the reason, I wuz robbed! 

Another thing: I fear I must've mixed up this competition with another one in regard to published runners-up as I can find no trace of any in the comics.  Therefore, it must've been another contest in another comic, but now I'm no longer sure whether it was even a Marvel title.  (Probably was though.)  In fact, it was a competition to design a baddie, and, as I said, someone submitted my Shiver & Shake character as a candidate.  If anyone can identify the competition and the comic, please feel free to enlighten me.

BABE Of The DAY - HEATHER THOMAS...

Yes, she is stunning, and you'll never have

a wife or girlfriend as gorgeous as Heather (nor

will I), but console yourself with the thought that,

one day, she'll be a bandy-legged old trout with her

baps covering her knees and more lines in her face

than a spider's web.  Of course, by then you'll all

 be dead, so it's a 'no-win' situation.

The DAY 'BATMAN' FAILED...

Copyright DC COMICS

You'll perhaps recall me relating the tale of how myself and one of my pals used to play at BATMAN & ROBIN back in the 1960s.  (You're no doubt relieved to hear that it wasn't just a few months ago - I'm not that sad.)  For my utility belt, I used part of the accompanying paraphernalia from my father's wartime portable morse code apparatus, which, to my young eyes, looked vaguely similar to ADAM WEST's equipment-laden waistline accessory on TV.

Now, usually I came in for a fair bit of mockery from my peers for my costumed exploits around the neighbourhood, as did my companion in crime-fighting, JOHN FIDLER (it's indeed fortunate that his nickname wasn't 'KID', eh?), who assumed the role of ROBIN, The BOY WONDER.  However, one evening, three local girls, who'd never previously paid the slightest bit of attention to me, seemed impressed by the striking appearance of my makeshift 'utility belt' and enthusiastically asked for a demonstration of its capabilities.

Touched by their obvious interest and spurred on by the look of wonder and admiration in their eyes, I agreed, and as we were playing close to some nearby lock-ups, I headed over to the water tap used by car owners to wash their vehicles.  It was housed in a grey-painted, oblong wooden 'box' against a lock-up wall, and picking up a metal bar from the ground, I placed it atop the flat surface of the box.

Directing the girls to stand at a distance over to my right (on the faux grounds that "it might be dangerous") I pretended to take some imaginary 'plastic explosive' from my belt and apply it to the iron rod.  Then, standing beside the tap and preventing their uninterrupted view, I simulated the act of pressing a button on what passed for my buckle while simultaneously attempting (surreptitiously) to bring down my left elbow on the end of the bar and hopefully send it somersaulting high into the air as though propelled by the explosive.

Alas, my actual ability was very far from the equal of my ambition, and my ruse was rumbled right away.  Disillusioned cries rent the air, along with contemptuous looks and jeering tones from the trio as they stormed off in disgust at my barefaced attempt to defraud them.  Ah, how fickle were the affections of these three feisty females, the extent of whose eager expectations I had clearly underestimated and been found sadly lacking as a consequence.

Even today, I remember how deflating it was to see the look of awe and adoration fade from the eyes of the three former fawning fillies who, only a short time before, had regarded me as a figure worthy of respect and admiration, if not actual hero worship.  There have been several females down through the years whose unrealistic expectations I've probably been unable to live up to, but nothing fills me with such feelings of failure as the memory of the faces of those three fearsome frustrated furies from so very long ago.

The ROTTENEST CROOK In The WORLD...

Copyright relevant owner

If I recall correctly, LEO BAXENDALE never made any secret of the fact that GRIMLY FEENDISH (brilliant name) was based on cartoonist CHAS ADDAMS' UNCLE FESTER, from the ADDAMS FAMILY.  Perhaps that's why he never took legal action over copyright of the character (like he did with D.C. THOMSON) - he'd surely have been on shaky ground if he'd tried.  Grimly was one of the strips that appeared in the ODHAMS PRESS weekly comic periodical named SMASH! back in the '60s, and he was the inspiration for the song Grimly Fiendish by punk band The DAMNED in 1985.

As you'll doubtless have noticed, bald baddie GRU in the movie DESPICABLE ME bears an uncanny resemblance to Grimly, but he's more likely to be based on Uncle Fester than he is on Feendish himself.  Anyway, I don't think the accompanying four-page strip from the 1967 SMASH! Annual is by Leo Baxendale, but it'll give you a fair idea of the kind of shenanigans that "The Rottenest Crook in the World" usually got up to in his weekly criminal expeditions.

Any fond reminiscences of reading Grimly as a boy?  (You, not him.)  Then let's hear them, O fellow followers from fandom.  (It's good to share!)

    

A FORGOTTEN FANTASTIC FOUR 'CROSSOVER' CLASSIC?

From WHAM! #143, cover-dated March 11th 1967.  Copyright REBELLION

What would you like first, the good news or the bad news?  Well, the good news is that here's The HUMBUGS strip I spoke of in a recent post, in which the terrible twins play at being The THING and The INVISIBLE GIRL.  The bad news is that I haven't yet brought down all my comic boxes (in which are stored my loose issues of WHAM!) from the attic, so I've had to scan the page from my bound volume which, as you can see, doesn't really lend itself to the process.  (I can't open it wide enough to lay flat on the screen, hence the shadow and blurred speech balloons on the right-hand side of the page.)

When I find the loose issue (which I think I've got) I'll scan the page properly and replace the current image with a better one.  In the meantime, however, this imperfect presentation should at least give you a fair idea of what's happening.  

The SECOND DOCTOR DOOM...

From SMASH! Annual 1967

Believe it or not, there once used to be two DOCTOR DOOMs inhabiting the same comics universe.  As well as MARVEL's Doom, there was also the evil adversary of The MAN From B.U.N.G.L.E., who appeared weekly in SMASH!, stablemate to WHAM!, which had The FANTASTIC FOUR.  Both publications fell under the POWER COMICS banner, both reprinted Marvel strips, and some of the U.K. humour strips occasionally referred to the Marvel ones (like The HUMBUGS in Wham! mentioning the FF one week).

So for any U.S. readers unaware of the fact, here's the second Doctor Doom trying to do away with The Man from B.U.N.G.L.E.  Okay, okay - yours existed first!  (But ours was funnier!) 

And to save you having to turn your computer

screen upside down, here's the SOLUTION:

BABE Of The DAY - RACHEL RILEY (AGAIN)...

She's brainy, blonde, bold and

beautiful, so what's not to like about

RACHEL RILEY?  Well, how 'bout her

never returning any of my 'phone calls?

Bloody women!  They all think they're

too good for me - and they're right!

(Curses, and exits stage left.)