The COMPLETE DENNIS The MENACE BOOK COVER GALLERY - PART FIVE...

Images copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd.  The illustration on the
back cover is the same as on the front, with the logo slightly reduced

Believe it or not (though there's no reason why you shouldn't), the first DENNIS The MENACE book came out in 1955 (for '56) and the last one in 2010 (for '11) - and I've got them all!  That's not quite so impressive as it sounds though, as it only came out every two years up until 1977 (for '78), whereupon it took a holiday until 1982 when the '83 edition was issued.  After the ones for '85 and '87, it finally became an Annual, being published yearly right up until the the final edition - 39 books in all.  That means I only have six more to show you, which you'll see in the next and final instalment in this series.

Just think - a period of 55 years covered in a mere six posts.  It hardly seems possible, but it's true nonetheless.  Whoever it was that said time flies sure wasn't kidding, eh?

FRANK HAMPSON - The ROAD Of COURAGE...

Copyright relevant owner

FRANK HAMPSON is a name that should be familiar to all readers of British comics from the '50s & '60s.  He was the main artist on DAN DARE in EAGLE comic, and though his star slightly faded for a while after being replaced on the strip in 1961, in '75 he was rightfully recognised as one of the medium's true masters when he was voted the best writer and artist of strip cartoons since the end of World War II.  He finally departed this mortal vale in 1985 after suffering a stroke and the lingering effects of throat cancer.

With the aid of his long-time art assistant JOAN PORTER, he illustrated the 56 part strip, The ROAD Of COURAGE - The STORY Of JESUS Of NAZARETH, which first appeared on the back page of Eagle weekly, cover-dated March 19th 1960.  In 1981, DRAGON'S DREAM published a hardback volume of the complete strip, printed, I seem to recall reading, from the original art boards.  At least, the first page certainly was, as a small patch from one of the lettering balloons had dropped off in the intervening years since first printed back in the '60s.

Interestingly, although the Reverend MARCUS MORRIS was credited with authoring the strip (he had started the script in the early 1950s), he paid GUY DANIELS half of his £20 fee per episode to write it on his behalf when it was given the green light.  However, with an unfinished script, it was left to Frank to do the actual historical research over in Palestine, in an attempt to make the strip as visually accurate as possible.

Anyway, just to demonstrate what an accomplished artist Hampson was (and Porter too, of course), here are the first three instalments from that landmark series.  Also shown is the cover to the Dragon's Dream book, but TITAN BOOKS republished the strip a few years back (with bonus material), so if you can't track down the original volume, you should be able to obtain the 2010 version.  Check out your nearest comicbook store or have a look on Amazon.)

Click on images to enlarge, click again for optimum size.

Note in the first panel below (scanned from the original art for the 1981 reprint), that the lettering correction patch has fallen off.  The second was scanned from a 1960 published issue (for the 2010 presentation) after the alteration had been made, hence its lack of clarity. 

BABE Of The DAY - ERIN GRAY...

Here's actress ERIN GRAY, who

we all  lusted over in the '70s when she

played COLONEL WILMA DEERING

in TV show BUCK ROGERS In The

25th CENTURY.  Lucky Buck!

COMIX BOOK COVER GALLERY...

Copyright relevant owner

No point getting bogged down with boring detail.  Suffice to say that COMIX BOOK was a 1970s attempt at an underground-style mag, the first three of its five issue run being published by MARVEL COMICS.  (The final two by KITCHEN SINK.)  Well, this post "does what it says on the tin", so here are those five covers, along with some bonus pics which you might not have seen before.  In fact, you may never even have seen all five covers before either, so aren't you glad you popped in?  (Okay, who's the wise-guy who said no?)

For  some pics of the contents of issue #1, click here.

Cover rough for #1

Alternative cover rough for #1 by Peter Poplaski

Rejected cover for #1 by Peter Poplaski

Rejected cover idea for #3 by William Stout

Rejected cover for #5

FINALLY! PART TWELVE Of FOOM COVER & IMAGE GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS & relevant owners

And now, at last, we reach journey's end, as Crivens features the final two issues of FOOM magazine, which, over the course of around five and a half years, managed to produce 22 pulse-pounding publications devoted to all things MARVEL.  It's hard to believe that it's been just over two years since the series began on this blog, but now we pull down the curtain and take our last bow as the audience rise to their feet and make their way towards the exits, hopefully satiated by the magnificent meal of Mighty Marvel Masterworks on which they've so fervently and ferociously feasted.  (And just try saying that with a mouthful of marbles.  On second thought, better not - you might choke, and I need all the readers I can get.)

Any reminiscences about any of the images on show?  Were you a FOOM fan, or did it manage to slip under your radar at the time?  Feel free to tell your fellow Criv-ites all about it in the comments section!  Incidentally, the back cover illustration of the final ish (22) was reused on The FANTASTIC FOUR Annual for 1980, issued near the end of 1979.  

Update: As a special bonus, below is the cover and a few interior images from a FOOM one-shot published in 2017, 44 years after the final issue of the original series.

BABE Of The DAY - LESLEY ANN WARREN (AGAIN)...

Here's lovely LESLEY ANN WARREN

stepping into a fight between the Invisible Man

and Susan Storm, holding them apart until they

both calm down.  Don't ask me why she's kitted

out like a butterfly - I have no idea.