BETTIE PAGE COMICS...

Images copyright DARK HORSE COMICS

The ol' memory may be going, I'm afraid.  I thought I'd already featured this comic in a previous post, but I can't find it on the blog.  So, just to be on the safe side, I thought I'd better do it again (or the first time, if I haven't already done it).

I'm not sure whether the above art by the late DAVE STEVENS was originally drawn as an imaginary comic cover then turned into a real comic by DARK HORSE, or was simply a pin-up (sans masthead) utilised fifteen years later when the comic was published, though for some reason I have the impression it was the former scenario.  This is the only ish in my collection, but I think there were at least another two issues.

BETTIE PAGE, as every fully paid-up perv will know, was a '50s pin-up model who had the uncanny ability of being nude without appearing to be naked (if you know what I mean), so natural and unselfconscious was she in her 'birthday suit'.  In later life she suffered from psychiatric problems and tried to stab three people, for which she spent some time in a mental institution.  Before all that, however, she had been PLAYBOY's 'playmate of the month' in the January 1955 issue.

Unfortunately, the tremendously talented Dave Stevens died at the ridiculously young age of 52 on March 11th, 2008, and Bettie Page herself passed away nine months later on December 11th, aged 85.  If you're a fan of Bettie (or Dave), this is one you might want to consider tracking down on eBay.  Shouldn't be too expensive.

BABE Of The DAY - CATHERINE BACH...

So who likes classical music?

Okay, here's a bit of BACH for you.

Whaddya mean, it's the wrong one? 

 You're complaining?  Sheesh!  

PART TWO OF SCREAM! COVER GALLERY...

Copyright REBELLION

Welcome to part two of our SCREAM! cover gallery.  As revealed in part one, Scream! lasted for 15 issues before being cancelled due to an industrial strike.  The comic contained such stories as The DRACULA FILES, The NIGHTCOMERS, The THIRTEENTH FLOOR, TALES From The GRAVE, LIBRARY Of DEATH (a different tale every week), FIENDS And NEIGHBOURS (a humour strip, looks like a reprint), MONSTER, and A GHASTLY TALE (again, a different tale every issue).

IPC decided that, after eight weeks of absence from newsagents due to the printers' strike, the title had lost momentum and wasn't worth continuing.  However, given the immense cost of launching a comic, this suggests that the sales figures had been less than encouraging.  Had it been a runaway hit, it would surely have been kept going. After all, nobody cancels a sure-fire money-spinner.

Another part still to come, chums!  Be sure not to miss it - on this, the absolutely best blog in the history of best blogs that most people have never heard of!

BABE Of The DAY - LIZ FRASER (AGAIN)...

Your tongues have hit the floor

and you're simply not interested in any

waffle from me with the above heavenly

vision gazing out at you.  So I'll now make

myself scarce while you lot slobber all

 over this hot pic of LIZ FRASER.

FRANK HAMPSON'S MARVEL CENTRE-SPREADS From SUPER SPIDER-MAN...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

If you have to ask who FRANK HAMPSON is, then hang your heavy head in shame, O false-believer.  Call yourself a comics fan?  Here are a couple of pin-ups he did for MARVEL U.K. back in 1976 & '77, and I've included the covers of the comics they appeared in as well.  (No, he didn't draw the covers, Melvin!)

Right, JP - that's a tenner you me.  I'm going to start charging folk for fulfilling requests from now on.  (No, I don't accept cheques.  Are you crazy?  Boiiing, boiiing!)

SCREAM! COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

Copyright REBELLION

The first issue of SCREAM! hit newsagents' shelves in Britain on Saturday, March 17th (dated 24th) 1984.  Hard for me to believe that was over 30 years ago, but then, when I think how my home town has changed in that period, it seems like a lifetime away.  However, you're not here to read about that, I'm sure.

Contrary to popular misconception, Scream! was discontinued after a mere 15 issues because of an industrial strike by printers, and not because of complaints from concerned parents about the alleged 'horrific' content.  The name was later added to the masthead of EAGLE weekly and there were 5 Summer Specials to continue the legend of one of Britain's shortest-lived and best-remembered comics.

Here, then, is the first part of a gallery of Scream! covers for you to salivate and swoon over.  Enjoy!

******

(Incidentally, the six back pages combine into one large poster.  Why not print them out and put them together?)

PART TWO Of The TITANS CENTRE-SPREAD POSTER GALLERY...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Okay, peeps, here's the second part of our super-duper centre-spread poster cover gallery from MARVEL U.K.'s mid-'70s weekly The TITANS.  Those of you with computer colouring technology should have a go at adding colour to your favourites and let the rest of us see the results.  Go on - give it a go - I know you're dying to give it a bash.  (Hoi!  Behave.)

PART TWO OF WHIZZER & CHIPS ANNUAL COVER GALLERY...

Copyright relevant owner

Wow!  Another six WHIZZER & CHIPS Annual covers.  What's not to like?  So - were you a Whizz-Kid or a Chip-ite - and why?  C'mon, folks - join in the fun!

LIGHTNING STRIKES ONCE...

Image copyright DC COMICS

So just who created SUPERMAN?  JERRY SIEGEL and JOE SHUSTER, wasn't it?  Well, what about CAPTAIN AMERICA?  JOE SIMON and JACK KIRBY we're told.  And The BATMAN?  BOB KANE and BILL FINGER it's said.  How about SPIDER-MAN?  That's surely an easy one - STAN LEE and STEVE DITKO.  There are other characters we could consider, but these four iconic superheroes will do for now.

I seem to recall reading an account by Jerry Siegel, many years ago, that he dreamt up the concept of Superman overnight, then rushed around to his pal Joe's family apartment and described his creation to the young artist, who sketched out the character described to him.  It's interesting to note that while Siegel denied being influenced by PHILIP WYLIE's 1930 pulp novel, GLADIATOR, Superman wore gladiator-type thonged footwear in his earliest appearances in DC's ACTION COMICS.

When it comes to Captain America, Joe Simon claimed he'd created the character and designed the costume, and the earliest existing sketch of Cap is indeed by Joe.  As for Batman, Bob Kane's vision of the Dark Knight was someone wearing a domino mask and bat wings - it was Bill Finger who recommended the pointy-eared cowl which imbued the character with the element of mystery we all know and love.

Spider-Man is a slightly more complicated - if we believe Jack Kirby's claim that he created the character.  However, we can quickly dismiss the idea; even if Jack had suggested the outline to Stan, he was merely recycling an idea by Joe Simon and JACK OLECK that had evolved into The FLY.  Funny thing about the poster boy for the 'hard-done-to' brigade - he was never slow to diminish his collaborators' contributions when recounting his career years later.  According to Jack, on the few occasions he deigned to mention him, Joe Simon was mainly the guy who cut the deals for the duo and did the bookkeeping, and Stan Lee was merely an editor who never created or wrote anything in his life.

So let's accept Stan's account of creating the concept for Spidey, and give Steve credit for the costume design and adding the web-shooters and various other details.  That's something all of those characters had in common - someone dreamt up the initial concept, and someone else was responsible for realising the visual aspect of that concept.  That surely means that when the readers first saw the finished article in published form, it was the result of at least two co-creators - to some degree or other.

One could argue that, as Shuster mainly drew what Siegel described, then Siegel was the primary creator and could have used any other artist, without much difference to the end result - apart from one of style.  Same goes for the good Captain: Joe Simon came up with the idea and the look, Jack 'merely' drew the comic.  

What we forget after all these years though is that, back in the day, when a book was a hit, those who produced it (writer and artist) were described as the 'creators'.  However, this mainly referred to their status as joint 'authors' of the published comic, not necessarily joint creators of the original idea for the character.  It wasn't intended to accord equal status to both parties in coming up with the original concept - except in cases where they had!

Although Steve designed the Spidey outfit, it's not unlikely that Stan had said something along the lines of "Put some spider webs on his costume and make him look sorta spidery."  If so, Stan could always claim that Steve was only following his suggestions for the costume, but as we all well know, suggestions can be interpreted in different ways.  (I should stress that Stan, as far as I know, has never attempted to claim credit for Spider-Man's outfit.  Jack Kirby did though, several times, until it was pointed out to him that he was wrong and actually hadn't.)

So imagine the following scenario: Someone dreams up an idea for a character which is pretty well complete.  He gives an outline of the costume design, but it's the actual artist who interprets it - even though one or two other people may suggest minor revisions which are incorporated into the finished look as illustrated by the artist.  As comics are a visual medium, the published article as seen by the public is mainly a collaboration between two people, even if others (editors, for example) had some input along the way.  What the reader gets is a combination of what the writer wrote and the artist drew in the pages of the printed comic.  Surely it would be wrong for the architect of a house to deny the builder his right to claim he built it?  Not a perfect analogy by any means, but it carries the essence of the matter.

It's on that basis Joe Shuster was given credit as co-creator alongside Jerry Siegel, Jack Kirby alongside Joe Simon, Bill Finger (retroactively) alongside Bob Kane, and Steve Ditko alongside Stan Lee.  At least, that's the way the readers view things.  It seems only fair then, that on that same basis, TREVOR VON EEDEN, whether he wants it or not, can legitimately be regarded as co-creator on BLACK LIGHTNING - as the published mag, and the character, looked the way they did as a direct result of his artwork.  And, unless the writer gave him a sketch (even a poorly drawn one) that was unmistakably the costume that Trevor ended up drawing, his interpretation of any instructions or suggestions given to him carried his stamp.  Another artist, given the exact same description, may well have come up with something quite different.

Disagree?  Well, as everyone knows, I'm not the dogmatic type.  The floor is yours - if you want it.

THE RETURN OF THE 'KELVIN KID'...

Today was a milestone of sorts for me in a strange kind of way.  I'd been jaunting (no, not like The TOMORROW PEOPLE before you ask, more like The YESTERDAY MAN) around my home town, photographing three nascent building sites in areas connected to my childhood - before they change beyond all recognition.

One was just across the road from where I resided in 1964/'65, and, on a whim, I chapped the door of my old house.  I explained to the fella who answered that I'd once lived there, and asked if he'd do me a favour by taking a photo or two of the view from my old bedroom window.  He invited me in to take them myself, and that's how I found myself in the home I'd once inhabited, for the first time in 50 years.

This was the house I was staying in when TV CENTURY 21 first came out, and got my second MARX TOYS YOGI BEAR on a scooter for my 6th or 7th birthday.  I think I may have got my Marx YOGI & HUCK ramp walker in this house also - though it could've been the previous one (unsure).  Having now been back in this former residence, all my associated memories seem much more vivid and not quite so long ago.

I think I'll dig out some TV21s later and re-read them, occasionally glancing at the photos you're now looking at, and - well - just remember how things used to be.