MARVEL VISIONARIES: JACK KIRBY - VOLUME ONE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

'Twas a good idea.  A series of deluxe hardback books called MARVEL VISIONARIES devoted to celebrating the leading luminaries of The Marvel Age of Comics.  One annoying problem though.  Marvel was still using inferior proofs for reproducing some stories and covers, which meant that the published results weren't always of the archival nature that die-hard collectors expect or demand, despite the claims in the dustjacket's flyleaf.  "Restored and remastered"?  Not too well in some cases, sadly.  However, I'm probably just being pernickety, as, for sheer reading enjoyment, the books have a lot going for them. 

JACK KIRBY had two volumes to himself, so let's take a look at the covers reproduced in the first.  There's more content than is suggested by the covers alone, because a few stories are reprinted without them, usually where a story wasn't featured on the cover, or was part of a split-cover featuring more than one strip.  The following covers are scanned from the book, which, because it's so tightly bound, may have a bit of shadow down one side of the page in some instances.  However, don't  let that spoil your enjoyment too much.

Ready?  Good - then let's go!

This became AMAZING ADULT FANTASY with its 7th issue.
The last in the series (#15) featured the debut of SPIDER-MAN

Some dodgy 'touch-up' of the lettering to lessen 'blurring' spoils this
one a bit.  A superior proof of this cover has since been unearthed

This one is sourced from a stat of the pre-published version, before
 the right wing on Cap's mask was amended to match its counterpart 

BABE Of The DAY - SUZANNE DANIELLE...

Sexy SUZANNE DANIELLE gazes

lovingly at the naked photo of me pinned up

on her wall.  She begged and pleaded for it 'til

I acceded to her earnest entreaties.  There's no

need to be jealous of her though, as it's only

 a b&w picture of me at six months old.

THE GREEN LEAVES OF SUMMER...

Long, long ago and very far away, in a mystical place called the past, I bought myself an LP album which had The BROTHERS FOUR performing a song called The GREEN LEAVES Of SUMMER.  In fact, when I first decided to feature the song, I'd intended to link to that very same record rendition, but while searching for it, I found the original soundtrack version from the 1960 movie - The ALAMO.  Enjoy!

RECOMMENDED READING: HAWKEYE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Here's another recent acquisition that, because I like it, I think you will too.  I've only read the first six or seven tales so far in this Omnibus edition, but after I type this, I'm straight off into the cludgie to park myself on the porcelain and get another few instalments under my belt.  (Let's see you do that with a computer.)

The relevant info is contained on the back cover below.  Give it the once over, then get right 'round to your nearest comics shop and buy yourself an entry into sheer entertainment.  Trust me, you'll be glad you did.  Right, smallest room of the house, here I come.

  

LEN WEIN BACK ON SWAMP THING... (Updated)

Images copyright DC COMICS

Okay, it's hardly news, but I only found out last week.  SWAMP THING co-creator LEN WEIN has returned to his muck-encrusted monster in what will be a six-issue series, the first two of which are currently available in all good comicbook shops.  I returned from Glasgow earlier tonight, lovingly caressing my very own copies.  I've now read the first ish, and it all seems extremely promising indeed.

If you're old enough to have been a fan of ol' Swampy back in the '70s, this is one you're sure to enjoy now that Len is once again handling the writing duties.  So buy them now while you can - you wouldn't want to miss out.

******

(Update: A few years later, I published a post with all six covers, but I've now decided to add the last four here so that they're all together in this post as well.)

PART FIVE Of KEN REID'S DARE-A-DAY DAVY From POW!...

From POW! #5, cover-dated February 18th 1967.  Copyright REBELLION

I'm spoiling you with this post, because as the above strip is only half a page, I've thrown in another (full) page at no extra cost (not that there was any to begin with).  So have a laugh at POW!'s DARE-A-DAY DAVY by KEN REID, and remember when you were a POWER fan!  (If you're old enough that is.)

From POW! #6, cover-dated February 25th 1967

CORPORAL CLOTT'S FIRST DANDY APPEARANCE...

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

CORPORAL CLOTT debuted in The DANDY #990, cover-dated November 12th, 1960, drawn by DENNIS The MENACE artist DAVID LAW.  My first memory of the strip is from 1964 or '65, but it was never one of my favourites. Nothing to do with the quality of the art or writing - I was just never too much into war strips in comics, not even humorous ones.  Still a classic piece of British comics history though.  Enjoy.

ANOTHER (BOND) BABE Of The DAY - URSULA ANDRESS...

The first BOND Babe - and, to many,

the best - URSULA ANDRESS.  She's a

goddess, ain't 'She' ?  (Did you see what I

 did there, film fans?  Clever me!)

KLASSIC KIRBY KOMIC KOVERS: JIMMY OLSEN #145...

Image copyright DC COMICS

This cover is a bit of a rarity, in that it's one (the first, in fact) of only two instances (that I know of)) where MURPHY ANDERSON completely inked a page of JACK KIRBY's art.  (The second, inked long-after Jack had passed away, was published in an ish of The Jack Kirby Collector a few years ago.)  Oddly, the above cover's inks were credited to VINCE COLLETTA in the second of two volumes of collected JIMMY OLSEN tales back in 2004.  (Not an easy mistake to make, I would've thought.)  Although I'm a fan of Colletta-inked JK pages, I've got to admit that the above cover makes me wish Murphy had inked the complete run of Olsen books - and can you just imagine what he'd have done on Jack's pencils on MARVEL's FF?  Wow!

(There's perhaps a hint of Colletta in FLIPPA-DIPPA's face, so I wonder if he was involved in the page before Murphy at some stage.  It looks predominantly Anderson to my eyes though.) 

PART TWO OF HARRY HAMMERTOE...THE SOCCER SPOOK...

Copyright REBELLION

Another great British cartoonist of yesteryear was REG PARLETT, whose humorous style graced the pages of many a U.K. comic.  This strip is from the cover-dated September 26th 1972 issue of SCORCHER & SCORE.  I wasn't buying the comic at this time (although I'd bought early issues before the two titles merged into one), so this strip was new to me when I first saw it in a book I got a year or so back.  Reg was a cartoonist who managed to draw 'funny' - even when there was nothing particularly funny to draw.  Just looking at panels in which nothing much is happening makes me chortle.  Know what?  That's a gift, and Reg Parlett had it in spades.

KEN REID'S THE NERVS - PART THREE...

If you're a fan of KEN REID's art (and, let's face it - who isn't?)

then you'll love this latest instalment of The NERVS from SMASH!

& POW! #139, cover-dated September 28th 1968.  Revel in the rol-

lickin' and riotous representations of internal idiocy in one boy's body

and bonce, where lunacy and laughter abound.  Is anyone drawing

comic strips as well as this today?  I've yet to see them!

BABE Of The DAY - ANGIE HARMON...

With a pic like this, you don't need

words, man (but you get them anyway).

The stunning ANGIE HARMON.

PART FOUR Of MAD COMIC COVER GALLERY...

Mad images copyright DC COMICS

Believe it or not, the image of the boy who became the MAD mascot existed long before the periodical ever came into existence.  The earliest known version comes from an ad for a Broadway comical stage play, The NEW BOY, which debuted in 1894.  It was used for a wide range of other purposes before being adopted and adapted by Mad as their mascot, and after an unsuccessful copyright infringement court case against the publishers in 1965, NORMAN MINGO's painting of the image became permanently (and legally) associated with Mad, whose sole ownership of the mascot is now undisputed.

Incidentally, the boy was also referred to as MELVIN COWSNOFSKY and MEL HANEY in the magazine's pages, but ALFRED E. NEUMAN has been his official appellation for decades.  Copyright is now owned by Mad's current publisher, DC COMICS (TIME/WARNER).  EC to DC - neat!

Okay, that's all the intro you need - now on to the covers!

   

Un-named Alfred's first Mad appearance

And below are some earlier images of the boy who was destined to become Alfred E. Neuman.

1894 - The New Boy

1908 - Antikamnia Tablet Calendar

1930 - '45 - Postcard

KEN REID'S QUEEN Of The SEAS - PART THREE...

Copyright REBELLION

Let's not waste a second with woeful waffle from me.  Here's more mental, manic madness with KEN REID'S QUEEN Of The SEAS!  (From SMASH! #3, cover-dated February 19th, 1966.)

MAD COMIC COVER GALLERY - PART THREE...

Images copyright DC COMICS

As mentioned last time, HARVEY KURTZMAN wrote almost the entire contents of MAD #1, which featured art by Kurtzman himself, along with WALLY WOOD, JACK DAVIS, JOHN SEVERIN and WILL ELDER.  Although Mad is probably best known as a satirical magazine, the comicbook version is an equal delight, full of rampant lunacy and great artwork by masters of their craft.  At only 23 issues, it wouldn't be impossible to acquire a full set, but you'd probably still need a small Lottery win to be able to afford them.

Anyway, that's more than enough padding from me - you'll be glad to know that it's now time to enjoy the pretty pictures.