PART THIRTY-EIGHT Of FAVOURITE COMICS Of The PAST - The AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #2...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

You're looking at one of my favourite-ever comics - The AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Annual #2.  I never actually owned it back in the 1960s, got the one you're looking at sometimes in the '80s.  However, I was familiar with the tale from the 1968 FANTASTIC Summer Special, which reprinted it in a re-sized format (two U.S. pages to one U.K. page) to fit the larger dimensions of a British comic.  And it was in black and white.

The graphics, naturally, are superb, as is to be expected from STEVE DITKO at the height of his artistic powers, but it's STAN LEE's dialogue which elevates the issue from being a great-looking tale to a classic.  Stan's dialogue in conjunction with Steve's artwork, of course, but had Steve scripted the tale himself, I doubt it would've resonated down through the years to the same extent that it has.  Some people tend to forget that comics are for reading, and not just looking at the pictures.

As well as the original mag, I also have various reprintings of the tale, one of my favourites being MARVEL TALES #167.  This one is well worth hunting down if you don't already have it.  ASM Annual #2 would cost you a small fortune nowadays, but the MT reprint will be far more affordable.  Anyway, enjoy the pages on view - and may your amulet never tickle!

'Worlds' on the cover, 'world' on the splash page - I wonder why?

The Spider-Man figure in pic 3 was used on the cover of the 1968
Fantastic Summer Special, published by Odhams Press in Britain

A little 'rearrangement' to accommodate the bar code box, but still a
great cover.  Get on to eBay and track down a copy of this ish today!

DEATHLOK The DEMOLISHER COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

"The MARVEL AGE Of COMICS, PHASE TWO!" declared the cover of ASTONISHING TALES #25, which marked the debut of DEATHLOK The DEMOLISHER.  Created by RICH BUCKLER, it was probably inspired in part by TV's SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN - but only in the sense that Deathlok was a cyborg, as was STEVE AUSTIN.  That was the only similarity, although, in 1977, 2000 A.D. featured a strip called M.A.C.H. 1, which, inevitably I suppose, combined elements of Austin and Deathlok for a British readership.  However, that's a story for another time - let's now enjoy some cataclysmic covers from the '70s.

And don't forget to come back for part two.

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - JILL ST. JOHN...

DIAMONDS Are FOREVER was

on TV a few nights ago and I caught some

of it between dozing (I was tired).  I seemed

to wake up though, whenever the beautiful

JILL St. JOHN appeared.  Now she's

 what I call a woman!  A WOMAN!

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.