PAST POSTINGS: JOURNEY INTO SWIPERY...

Art by Jack Kirby.  JIM #83, page 8, panel 1

All artists have (or should have) a reference file.  This usually consists of a collection of photos and illustrations of just about every scene imaginable.  It can contain previous drawings by the artist and also even the artwork of others - which is why it's also called a 'swipe' file, because it provides the working illustrator with material from which he can copy if his imagination (or knowledge of the subject) is a little lacking.

It may surprise you to learn that not every artist can sit at their drawing boards and draw just about anything off the top of their head or at the drop of a hat.  Even those who seemingly do so are often drawing (pun intended) upon their experience of an earlier drawing, the subject of which they first had to meticulously research before committing to memory.

Even artists such as WALLY WOOD and JACK KIRBY occasionally swiped from illustrators who had preceded them, like HOGARTH and FOSTER.  Joltin' JOE SINNOTT, inker of many of MARVEL's top pencillers - and an illustrator of no mean accomplishment in his own right - occasionally swiped when he was performing sole drawing chores on The MIGHTY THOR back in the 1960s.

Joe drew five Thor strips for JOURNEY Into MYSTERY (#s 91, 92, 94-96) and not only swiped from Jack Kirby, but even from himself.  I thought it might be interesting to look at a few panels 'inspired' by ones in previous stories.  Some are direct copies, others have been tweaked (and flipped), but their sources are still all-too apparent.

The following examples result from a casual browse through the stories themselves and are by no means exhaustive (in fact, I've since seen one or two others), so look through the issues yourself (if you have 'em) and see which ones you can spot.

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #91, page 12, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #94, page 12, panel 5

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Art by Jack Kirby.  JIM #83, page 10, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #92, page 10, panel 6

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #95, page 4, panel 7

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Art by Jack Kirby.  JIM #85, page 6, panel 3

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #94, page 10, panel 2

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Art by Jack Kirby (?)/Steve Ditko.  JIM #88, page13, panel 5

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #91, page 1, panel 4

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #94, page 5, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #95, page 2, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #96, page 2, panel 1

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Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #91, page 11, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #95, page1, panel 6

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Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #91, page 13, panel 3

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #92, page 11, panel 2

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Art by Jack Kirby.  JIM #93, page 3, panel 7.  (This pic looks like a patch)

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #96, page 8, panel 3

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Art by Jack Kirby.  JIM #86, page 12, panel 5

Art by Jack Kirby.  JIM #91, page 9, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #95, page 10, panel 7

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Art by Jack Kirby.  JIM #86, page 11, panel 6

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #95 page 2, panel 3

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #95, page 13, panel 7

Art by Joe Sinnott.  JIM #96, page 2, panel 3

KLASSIC KIRBY KOMIC KOVERS: The FANTASTIC FOUR #7...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

Some people think that REED RICHARDS resembles JACK KIRBY on this cover, but I'm not convinced.  There's a vague hint of a similarity if you half close your eyes and look at the comic from the other side of the room through the bottom of a milk bottle, but that's hardly conclusive proof of Kirby's intent to model MISTER FANTASTIC after himself.  Besides, he related more to BEN GRIMM, The THING, so he's unlikely to have also thought of Reed as his comicbook counterpart.  But what do the rest of you think?

KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - STAR WARS #1...

Image copyright DISNEY

Here it is - the comic that saved MARVEL!  Yup, had it not been for this particular comicbook, Marvel would most likely not be around today.  They were in pretty bad shape when this series went on sale and it ended up saving their bacon!  The force was obviously with them.  (For further info, click here.)

BABE Of The DAY - CINDY CRAWFORD...

It'simply stunning CINDY CRAWFORD.

I must stay in that hotel again - the room service

was terrific.  When they said "Just ask for anything

you want" I never realized they'd take me quite so

 literally.  I left a tip of course.

KLASSIC KIRBY KOMIC KOVERS: TALES Of SUSPENSE #44...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

The cover to TALES OF SUSPENSE #44 as originally drawn and lettered had CLEOPATRA with a look of concern on her face, while the jagged cover blurb read "See Iron Man come face-to-face with Cleopatra, Siren of the Nile!"  Her altered expression (to a grin) looks imbecilic, and I can't help but think that her original demeanor was more apt.  Okay, she's being rescued, but she's being rescued by a flying man in armour, so she'd be entitled to look a tad anxious.  After all, it couldn't have been an experience she was used to.

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Click here to read about the ALAN CLASS reprint of the tale.

RECOMMENDED READING: MWOM #23...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

The fact that I'm still buying The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL nearly 44 years after it first came out in 1972 is something I get a real buzz from.  Sure, it hasn't been an unbroken run, and it's now a monthly instead of a weekly, but we won't let that deter us from acknowledging an amazing feat of longevity in the world of publishing.

Starring DAREDEVIL, S.H.I.E.L.D., and The SILVER SURFER, it's well-worth £3.50 of anybody's money.  So scoot along to your local WHS and buy the latest issue (#23) as soon as you can.

Excelsior!  'Nuff said!

RECOMMENDED READING: THE BEST OF SIMON & KIRBY...

Copyright relevant owners

Published by TITAN BOOKS in 2009, The BEST Of SIMON & KIRBY is a sampler volume of the different genres of comicbooks that the titanic two collaborated on back in the '40s and '50s (and a strip or two in the '60s).  You'll find an example or three of Superheroes, Science Fiction, War and Adventure, Romance, Crime, Westerns, Horror, and Humour.  Simply put, this is a great book, and if you don't have it in your collection, then you're missing out.

Anyway, I don't want to spoil you all, so only a mere two images of the interiors this time around, Criv-ite chums.  If you want to see any more, get straight into your local comics shop or bookstore and buy your own copy!

  

RECOMMENDED READING: THE SIMON & KIRBY LIBRARY: SCIENCE FICTION...

Copyright relevant owner

Like Science Fiction?  Like SIMON & KIRBY?  Then this is the book for you!  Amongst its many gems are two early stories, the premises of which turned up again in two of Jack Kirby's later DC COMICS mags - JIMMY OLSEN and KAMANDI.  The CADMUS SEED is a tale about CLONING, and The LAST ENEMY is about Earth in the future being ruled by intelligent, talking animals.

So tell the wife you're cutting her housekeeping money this week, then dash straight 'round to your local comicbook store and spend the moolah you've prevented from being wasted on food, bills and other unnecessary items on your own copy of this valiant volume.  You'll be glad you did, even if the wife never speaks to you again!

See the back cover (three down) for info about contents.

BABE Of The DAY - SOPHIA LOREN...

SOPHIA - you look great,

luv.  Now scoot along and make

me a cup of tea - and don't forget

a wee biscuit.  (I knew I kept her

 around for something.)

BABE Of The DAY - CINDY CRAWFORD...

"Look deep into my eyes!" says

the awesome CINDY CRAWFORD.

Frankly, that'd take a bit of effort, luv.

Can't you leave it for us to decide?

DR. BEAR? YOGI WHO? CHILDHOOD REVISITED...

One day, back in 1965 or '66, while out shopping with my family in SAFEWAY's, I saw a Dr. WHO TARDIS money box (manufactured by PLASTON) on display at the front end of one of the checkout counters.  It was inexpensive so my parents purchased it for me, and on the way home we stopped in at a cafe in the shopping precinct halfway between the town centre shops and our house.

In memory, the cafe seems like something out of HAPPY DAYS.  It had a checkerboard floor and a Juke Box in the corner, and was a typical 1960s example of pseudo-American culture* that such British establishments usually modelled themselves on at the time.  It's now been a chemist's shop for decades, but I can't pass it today without remembering it in its '60s heyday.

(*To be clear, that's the British imitation of American culture which is 'pseudo', not American culture itself.)

The money bank was of a soft blue plastic, and some time later (don't know how long), I slit along the outlines of the door, so that I could place my MARX TOYS YOGI BEAR (sans scooter) inside its interiors.  (Remember, I was a mere 7 years old at the time.)  Then, in my imagination, the bold Yogi would traverse the vast distances of time and space in his borrowed time machine, landing on barren, alien terrains in faraway universes.

If you're like me, you probably sometimes played with your toys in bed (behave, not those sorts of 'toys'), and the topside of one's drawn-up knees under the bedspread provided a perfect mountain ridge from which the 'hero' had a vantage point over any and all enemies who might assail him.  And so it was with Yogi, who'd emerge from his Tardis (with my assistance of course) and scan the horizon for DALEKS - or the insidious RANGER SMITH.

Anyway, around a couple of years ago, I acquired a replacement for Yogi, but I've not yet managed to obtain an exact duplicate of that particular Dr. Who Tardis bank.  However, a few years before WOOLWORTH's closed its doors for the final time, I bought a modern-day equivalent Tardis money box, which has served as a stand-in in the absence of its illustrious predecessor.  (True, it's a darker blue and a harder plastic, but it's still an official Tardis bank, which'll do for me.)

Anyway, in a completely self-indulgent (and frivolous) exercise in boyhood nostalgia, I decided to reunite 'Dr. Yogi' and his Tardis for your pictorial pleasure (though this time he's brought his scooter along).  See the lengths to which I go in order to provide you with the finest examples of absurdity available on any blog?  You don't see delightful nonsense like this elsewhere!  (Whaddya mean "Thank goodness!"?)

(Update: I've now acquired an original Plaston Tardis, so here's a pic of it alongside Yogi.)

PART FORTY Of FAVOURITE COMICS Of The PAST - CAPTAIN MARVEL #25...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

After CAPTAIN MARVEL #1, the next issue I remember buying was #25.  I probably bought it because I recognized the style of art from the early covers of The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL, not to mention the 'Marvel' part of the masthead, which had been pressed into service for the selfsame publication.  I used to have a 'Fortress of Solitude', a 'hideout', under the stairs of an office building in the local town centre, to which I sometimes repaired to read my newly-bought comics by torchlight 'cos I couldn't wait 'til I got home.  This ish was one among many that I yet associate with the place to this day.

I say 'Fortress of Solitude', but that was usually only when I was 'dogging' (no, not what you're thinking) school, which was normally a solitary pursuit.  However, on weekends I'd sometimes take some pals with me, and it was a thrill to sneak into 'my' hideout and while away some time, reading comics, drinking bottles of ginger, eating sweets and feeling like WILLIAM BROWN's OUTLAWS.  Ah, happy days!  Wish I could have those glorious times back again.

Got your own memories of this particular issue you'd care to share with your fellow Crivvies?  The comments section awaits!

  

MARVEL ARTIST PAUL RYAN PASSES AWAY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

I've just learned that Peerless PAUL RYAN, artist of The FANTASTIC FOUR and countless other comics, passed away on Sunday at the age of 66.  I was mainly aware of his work from the FF, and I consider his five-year run on the title to be right up there (art-wise) with JOHN BYRNE's - and he (Paul) drew the sexiest SUSAN STORM ever, bar none.

Another light gone out, alas, but we shall remember him.

BABE Of The DAY - JORDAN CARVER...

That's a nice dress JORDAN

CARVER is almost wearing.  I'm

not complaining, it's just I don't want

her to catch a cold.  (Or find a bicycle

parked in her cleavage.)

LOOPY LAPSES In LOGIC - FANTASTIC FOUR #8...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Okay, so you all know the story.  The PUPPET MASTER lures The THING into his clutches via one of his radioactive clay figures, and is then surprised to find that SUSAN STORM has also turned up in his lair, having invisibly followed Ben there to see where he was going in his trance-like state.

Noticing that his step-daughter ALICIA bears an uncanny resemblance to Sue, he gets her to impersonate The INVISIBLE GIRL and then sends her back to the BAXTER BUILDING with Ben - as a "little prank" he says - but why?  What does it achieve, other than to send his step-daughter into possible danger?

As he later reveals, he had the 'foresight' to create a puppet of Sue, so why not just put her under his control and send her back to the Baxter Building with Ben?  In fact, why even bother doing that?  Why didn't he just put all four of them under his power and have the FF come to his apartment, where he could destroy them at his leisure?  Or just have them 'top' themselves in their skyscraper headquarters?

H'mm, one thing's for sure.  I'm either giving the matter far too much thought, or STANLEY and JACKSON didn't give it enough.  Which do you think it's likely to be?  (Be gentle with me.)

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

Copyright REBELLION

Seeing as how you've all been so well-behaved recently, I thought I'd reward you with another DARE-A-DAY DAVY strip by KEN REID, so here it is - from POW! #7, cover-dated March 4th 1967 - a staggering 49 years ago!  As to whether these strips were really based on readers' ideas or not, I suspect that most of them were figments of the writer's imagination.  After all, each ish was prepared at least two months in advance, so the first eight issues were done and dusted before #1 even went on sale.

Was your idea ever used, or do you know of anyone who submitted one and won a pound for their efforts?  (I'm talking to much older Criv-ites, obviously.)  Interestingly, MARC JUNG, who was the assistant editor of BUSTER in the mid-'80s, once admitted to me that they made many of their letters up, as they simply didn't receive enough of them to fill a page.  Perhaps Pow! was the same.  Anyway, don't worry too much about that, just enjoy Ken Reid's art at its lunatic best!  See you next time.