TALES To ASTONISH COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

All images copyright MARVEL COMICS

As most everyone knows, The HULK's own mag lasted for only six issues when it first came out, cover-dated March 1963.  However, he was kept alive through guest-spots in other comics, as well as being one of the founding members of The AVENGERS when their magazine was launched later the same year (cover-dated September).  Eventually, he was given one half of TALES To ASTONISH (in #59), until it was renamed The INCREDIBLE HULK with its 102nd ish.

Here then is the first part of a series showcasing the covers of that estimable title (TOS), when readers got two tales for the price of one.  They weren't as complex (or as confusing) as today's comics, but they were far more entertaining in my famously humble opinion.  Ah, for such simpler times again.  Wait until I win that Lottery!

Anyway, enjoy these covers from another era, and keep your peepers peeled for part two.

******

What?  You want a bit of my personal reminiscing?  Okay then, seeing as you insist.  I first read the above tale in a British comic, but as it appeared in two different titles - SMASH!, and then in its companion paper TERRIFIC not too long after - I associate it with both of them.  At least one of those times was around the festive period, so whenever I see the story, I can't help but think of the snow-bedecked environs of the house and neighbourhood in which I lived at the time, which makes me yearn for the days of my boyhood back in the '60s with an even greater intensity than usual.  Okay, now it's your turn.  What are your memories of this tale, Crivs - or any of the other ones?  Don't be shy now - get typing!

BABE Of The DAY - KATE WINSLET...

There's no sinking feeling whenever

kissable KATE WINSLET is around.  She

may be a titanically talented actress, but it's

her stunningly attractive looks we mere men

are here to appreciate today.  So - all hail

 the most magnificent Kate.  Yeah.

PART SIX Of The CRUNCH COVER GALLERY...

Image copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

It's a dreich day outside, but luxuriating in the interior warmth of CASTEL ROBSONO, I've decided to persevere with presenting The CRUNCH Cover Gallery.  There hasn't been much interest in this series to be completely honest, but, taking my cue from the late MAGNUS MAGNUSSON (and JOHN HUMPHRIES), I'm determined to finish what I started several posts back.

The majority of these comics have survived pretty well for having been stored in an old cheese box for 35-plus years.  Only a few have some age spots, which makes me wonder why some comics in the same bundle exhibit the passage of time and others don't.  I've got two cheese boxes, which I got back in 1975 when I worked in a CO-OP shop just down the road from me, and they're very sturdy and robust, having originally housed huge, single blocks of cheddar in each one.

In case you're interested, the second box is home to my complete collection of MIGHTY TV COMIC, plus a few other odds'n'sods, like MARVEL U.K. POCKET BOOKS and Oor WULLIE and The BROONS Holiday Specials.

Anyway, in the absence of anything illuminating about The Crunch to write about, the above preamble has filled a bit of a space, so now let's get down to the nitty-gritty - the covers themselves.  And should you feel like making a comment, then don't let anything stop you.

RULES ARE RULES - AREN'T THEY?

I can't recall if I've told this story before (though I've meant to for a while now), but it illustrates what having a bit of authority can do to some folks.  Tell me if you disagree with the following statement: Rules are for a reason, and if the reason for a particular rule doesn't exist in a specific case, then it's redundant.  Case in point: I used to work in my local central library, and within a few years of leaving (but still a regular visitor), I decided to join the library's record department, so I filled out the form and submitted it to the female assistant behind the desk.

She'd worked there when I did and knew me, but asked "Do you have any ID?"  I was taken slightly aback by her question and replied "No, but you know who I am and have my relevant personal details on file as a former employee, so isn't that enough?"  "Rules are rules!" she responded flatly.  I tried approaching the matter from a logical standpoint (often a difficult thing with a woman).  "Yes," I said, "but rules are usually for a reason.  In this case, it's so that a complete stranger can't give you a false name and address and walk out with a couple of LPs which you'll never see again.  As you already know who I am and have my information on file because I once worked here, then surely that particular rule isn't applicable in this case?".

She stuck to her guns, so I asked for one of the chief librarians, who, when I explained the situation, said "Nae bother, Gordie!" and approved my application.  I'd say that was simply a triumph for common sense, but perhaps some of you are thinking "The woman was only doing her job, there was no need to go over her head!"  However, you weren't there!  I could see that she was enjoying having power over me and was being a complete jobsworth merely for the sake of it.  I call it the 'traffic warden mentality' - someone with a wee bit of power who abuses it simply to feed their ego and to feel important.

Ever been in a similar situation?  The comments section eagerly awaits your rapid response. 

BABE Of The DAY - CATRIONA SHEARER...

BBC newsreader CATRIONA SHEARER sure

is one hot totttie, so here she is as today's 'Babe', fellas.

When it comes to fronting the news, she beats TREVOR

McDONALD or JEREMY PAXMAN hands down any

day of the week.  Do you agree?  Then don't keep it all

 to yourselves, Crivvies - tell the rest of the world.

TOYBOX TREASURES Of The PAST: CHERILEA BATMAN & ROBIN...

Well, I threatened to do it and now I have.  I did say that once I'd retouched my CHERILEA ROBIN figure, I'd show him in all his restored glory, alongside his crime-fighting chum, BATMAN.  So feast your eyes on the pair of them above - doubtless looking even better than they did on the WOOLWORTH'S counter they both would've adorned back in the '60s.

TOYBOX TREASURES Of The PAST: LOUIS MARX BUMP 'N' GO DALEKS...

You're looking at two LOUIS MARX bump 'n' go DALEKS from the early '60s, which I acquired recently.  Both come with the original boxes, though the one belonging to the second Dalek is a little bit battered, but not beyond improvement.  I already have the DAPOL re-releases from the early '90s, but they were replicas of later versions, which had narrower waists and smaller, slightly more accurately shaped eye-stalks.  Even amongst the early versions there were slight differences, because I've seen silver ones with blue bases and silver appendages, and heard that modern 1.5 'C' batteries don't fit the compartments properly, if at all.  However, I haven't found that to be any kind of a problem, and the batteries fit perfectly, with absolutely no squeezing, straining or pushing involved.  (Perhaps it depends on what make the batteries are.)

Anyway, thought you might like to see them - and they're both in perfect working condition.  Not bad for over 50 years old.  Did you have a Marx Dalek when you were a lad?  Then tell us all about it in the comments section right away.

  

BABE Of The DAY - JUDITH RALSTON...

Here's regular commenter McS's

favourite 'Babe of the Day' - JUDITH

RALSTON - who presents the weather on

BBC TV.  If she only knew McS stands under

the lamppost just outside her house every night,

staring up at her bedroom window, the 'weather'

would most likely be stormy.  I sure wish he'd

break the habit, 'cause I have to stand under

a lamppost further up the street and the

view isn't so clear from that one.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN LEGENDS?

Copyright REBELLION

From the SMASH! Annual for 1970, comes The LEGEND TESTERS!  DANNY CHARTERS and ROLLO STONES embark on yet another mission to test whether a legend from the past is true or not.  It's a fascinating concept and I'm surprised that the strip wasn't continued for many years afterwards as it seems a rich vein to mine for action and adventure.  I think IPC/FLEETWAY slipped up in not having Danny and Rollo in the revamped Smash!, or reviving them for VALIANT, or STARLORD, or even 2000 A.D.  They would've been a perfect fit for either of the latter two, being, as they were, sci-fi comics.

In the U.S., at around the same time that the duo first appeared in  ODHAMS' weekly Smash! comic (1966), was a TV programme called The TIME TUNNEL, although I'm unsure as to exactly when it was first shown on British television.  It's interesting to speculate whether the Smash! strip was 'inspired' by the IRWIN ALLEN TV series, or was simply a twist on the BBC's DOCTOR WHO.

  

Will The Legend Testers ever live again in new adventures?  Only time will tell, but for the moment, enjoy this look back at one of their exciting expeditions from over 45 years ago.

SIMON TEMPLAR MEETS STEVE ZODIAC...

Which he actually did when the voice of WSP spaceman STEVE ZODIAC, actor PAUL MAXWELL, appeared on The SAINT television show.  However, that's not what I refer to.  No, I'm talking about when ROGER MOORE as SIMON TEMPLAR was seen handling a QUERCETTI FIREBALL XL5 parachute toy*, containing a little astronaut figure meant to be Steve.  If I remember correctly, YOGI  BEAR also appears in the clip that this still is taken from - wotta star.  (*I won't make you jealous by showing off my two boxed Fireball examples.)

HERE, HAVE SOME GINGER...

Copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

GINGER from The BEEZER comic always struck me as the 'English' equivalent of Oor WULLIE from The Sunday Post.  Both were published by D.C. Thomson and drawn by DUDLEY DEXTER WATKINS, but whereas Wullie was distinctly Scottish, Ginger wasn't geographically-confined to any one area of Britain.

Dudley D. Watkins was one of those artists that made drawing look easy, pencilling out 'sausage' figures and inking in the detail as he went along - essentially doing the actual drawing with a pen or brush.  He was a complete natural, and no artist since has drawn any of his strips with the same skill, style or verve as he himself, with the only exceptions being the late CHARLES GRIGG and the mighty KEN H. HARRISON.

However, don't take my word for it.  Here are four Ginger strips drawn by D.D. Watkins to demonstrate precisely what I'm talking about.  Superb stuff indeed! Enjoy!

BABE Of The DAY - HEATHER THOMAS...

I'm pretty sure this is HEATHER

THOMAS, but it also looks a little like

HEATHER LOCKLEAR, who many folk

were always mixing up back in the '80s.  HT

or HL?  Which of the tempting two do you

 think it is?  Have your say now! 

PART EIGHT OF SMASH! COVER GALLERY...

Copyright REBELLION

Wow!  Time certainly has a habit of racing away from you, eh?  Who'd believe that it's been 10 months since the last instalment of our super SMASH! Cover Gallery from way back in the late 1960s and early '70s?  WARRIORS Of The WORLD came to an end with its 46th appearance and, after a free gift issue, SIMON TEST became the permanent front cover star for the rest of the comic's run.  So here's yet another half dozen issues to remind you of what you were maybe reading back then, if you're as ancient as I am.  Got any reminiscences associated with these comics?  Then let's have 'em, Criv-ites!

   

WHOOPEE - IT'S GRAN'S GANG...

Copyright REBELLION

Sometime near the end of 1985 or the beginning of '86 (yes, Annuals really were prepared that far in advance), I was down in London on one of my regular weekly visits to what was then IPC's (almost) skyscraper headquarters, KING'S REACH TOWER, when Humour Group Editor BOB PAYNTER handed me an unfinished page of pencilled artwork and asked me if I'd like to complete it.

Apparently it was a try-out page by an artist, who'd declined to finish it when asked for some alterations, but Bob didn't want to waste it.  After 30 years, it's difficult to recall precisely, but I think I drew two panels, finished off some bits 'n' bobs in others, and then inked it.  The inks are a bit heavy, but it's not too bad overall.

This was a good Annual for me, because I lettered 38 pages, which, at around a tenner each, wasn't bad for what amounted to a couple of days' work.  (And that didn't include my regular jobs for 2000 A.D. and other IPC weeklies and Annuals.)

So, the page isn't all mine, but there's enough of me in it to justify showing it to you on this here blog.  The strip had started life as 6 MILLION DOLLAR GRAN, was then retitled ROBOT GRANNY, and finally became GRAN'S GANG, for reasons that I have absolutely no clue about, so don't ask me.

TA-RAAA - AND NOW, The TITANS #59...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS (and owned by Gerry's pal)

Here's one you won't have seen before.  Drawn by DAVE GOLDING as a commission, it was turned into a cover for the never published ('cos it didn't exist) The TITANS #59 by Gerry, a pal of the piece's owner.  Right, Gerry - your next mission, should you decide to accept it, is to create the rest of the issue.  Well, what're you waiting for?  And why does a comic dated 1976 have a copyright date of 1977?  (I've also added this cover to my previous post on The Titans.)

KID In The KOMICS - 2000 A.D. ANNUAL 1991...

Copyright REBELLION

Thought you Crivs might like to see the following page from the above 2000 A.D. Annual for 1991, featuring 'fun facts' about yours truly.  The caricature was by NICK ABADZIS (who did a superb job of capturing my devastating good looks and sizzling sex appeal - don't all rush at once, ladies - form an orderly queue), and the page was designed and laid out by STEVE COOK.