MORE EASTER MIRTH FROM SMASH!...

No need for any preamble from yours truly - not when The SWOTS

& The BLOTS are loose.  So unwrap an Easter egg and scoff it while

you read this two-page treat from SMASH! #61, 1967.  Enjoy!

    

BEAR Of The DAY - YOGI BEAR...

H'mm, is YOGI BEAR 'bear'-nekkid

or bare-nekkid (or is he both)?  Such deep

philosophical questions are so absorbing,

 don't you think, Crivvies?  I know I do.

A SMASHING EASTER MONDAY TO EVERYONE...

Characters copyright relevant and respective owners

I'm repeating myself again, but here are a few pages from the Easter issue of SMASH! from 1967 - PERCY'S PETS and BAD PENNY.  There'll be more pages throughout the day so be sure to check back a few times before Tuesday arrives.  Happy Easter Monday!

BAD PENNY'S EASTER 'SMASH!'-UP...

Copyright REBELLION

More Easter treats from SMASH! #116.  This time it's two pages of BAD PENNY, who, when she was bad, she was very bad - and when she was very bad, she was funny.  (I don't even know if that makes any sense, but it sounds good so it'll do for me.)  Not drawn by LEO BAXENDALE, I'm informed - I really should enlarge these pages and examine them before attributing them to any particular artist, shouldn't I?!

  

HOPE YOUR EASTER ISN'T TOO GRIM...

Here's GRIMLY FEENDISH in an Easter adventure,

from SMASH! #116, cover-dated April 20th 1968.  Am

I good to you or what?  What?  Whaddya mean 'what'?

HUNK Of The MONTH - BIG FRANKIE...

See?  I do occasionally cater to the tastes

of my hordes of female fans (I'm bound to have

them, as no one could be that unpopular).  So

here's a big hunk of monster - just for them.

HELP A HORROR OUT TODAY...

Copyright relevant owner

Someone gave me this interesting book by Denis Gifford a while back, but pages 7 & 8 are missing.  (Assuming, that is, that the page count starts from the outside cover.)  Have any Crivs got this book, and if so, would you be prepared to provide me with scans of the missing pages?

(Update: Received a scan of each side of the page from PC - see comments - printed out a copy and restored the book.  Then the guy who gave me this book, gave me another one, so I gave the restored volume to someone else.)

BABE Of The DAY - JORDAN CARVER...

Jaunty JORDAN CARVER shows

her winning smile and captures the hearts

of all red-blooded males at a glance.  If you

need any assistance getting in or out of that

sheet, Jordan, I'd be more than happy to

 help - so just give the word, hear?

FAVOURITE COMICS Of The PAST - PART FORTY-THREE: SWAMP THING #1...

Images copyright DC COMICS

One of my favourite newsagent's back in the '70s was an R.S. McCOLL's in the Old Village quarter of my town.  It was situated next door to an old-fashioned tearoom called The WILLOW, which was like a LYONS tearoom from the 1950s.  Nowadays, what was The Willow is part of a Chinese or Indian restaurant, and the newsagent's is now a GREGGS, both of whose original incarnations I miss in equal measure.  Roll on that Lottery win so that I can buy and restore them to their former glory.

Just some of the comics I recall buying in that particular McColl's were The DEMON #1, SECRET ORIGINS #1, JOURNEY Into MYSTERY Annual #1, KULL The CONQUEROR #1, as well as this post's favourite comic of the past - SWAMP THING #1. Doubtless there were many other mags (some of them British) I bought in that much-missed shop, but these are the ones which spring to mind at this moment.  So let's take a look at some of the pages from that classic issue of Swamp Thing - comics don't get any better than this.

And if you have any memories of (or observations on) this magnificent mag, then share them with the rest of us.

And below is a pic from the '50s of the tearoom and newsagent's. The Willow's premises had a windowed extension just out of view to the left of the tree to accommodate more tables and chairs. 

HAVE A SMASHING EASTER, CRIV-ITES...

Copyright REBELLION

I've shown these two pages before, but I'm sure you'll forgive me - after all, it's EASTER!  How many chocolate eggs have you scoffed so far, you greedy Criv-ites?  If you're anything like me, too many!  Having said that, think I'll have another.  In the meantime, enjoy The SWOTS & The BLOTS from SMASH! #116, back in 1968.

BABE Of The DAY - HELEN SLATER As SUPERGIRL...

What can one say about HELEN

SLATER?  How about the obvious -

"What a Super Girl!"  (I may not be

 original, but I sure am accurate.)

PART TWO OF THE "NOT GOOD ENOUGH - DO IT AGAIN!" DEPARTMENT...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Above, the published cover of The FANTASTIC FOUR #20.  Below, JACK KIRBY's original attempt, rejected by STAN LEE.  And below that is a finished version, lettered and inked by yours truly.  And yeah, you're right - it isn't good enough, so one day I will do it again.  (The Jack Kirby Collector liked it though.)

KLASSIC KIRBY KOMIC KOVERS: BLACK MAGIC #4...

Image copyright DC COMICS

The art for this cover was originally intended for PRIZE COMICS first issue of BLACK MAGIC in 1950, but it never saw print until the fourth issue of DC COMICS revival of the title in 1973.  See?  It often pays never to throw anything away - especially KIRBY artwork.

WHAT WERE YOUR FAVOURITE FEATURES?

Anyone who buys any of the current PANINI/MARVEL mags will know that, occasionally, there are no letters pages because of a paucity of epistles from which to publish.  It's always been the case that the proportion of readers who write in to a comic is a relatively tiny one, which often made me wonder about British comics once including a small 'favourites' coupon for readers to fill in and send with their letters or jokes.  After all, there was no guarantee that the strips listed were representative of the wider readership, so it was hardly an ideal way of evaluating which strips were really the most popular.

Did you ever fill in one of those coupons and send it in to your weekly comic?  Cast your mind back to childhood and see if you can recall what your favourite strips were.  Here's a list of weeklies to jog your memory: BUSTER, WHAM!, SMASH!, POW!, WHIZZER & CHIPS, COR!!, WHOOPEE!, WOW! - or any others you can think of.  Just think - the choice of the few determined the reading options of the many.  Hardly fair perhaps, but how else can one even try to gauge the popularity of a comic's contents?  Never sent one in?  Perhaps if you had, that strip you liked which disappeared might've continued if the editor had been made aware that more readers liked it.  H'mm?

  Okay, thinking caps on, typing fingers at the ready.  

WAKE UP, It's - DAWN Of The UNDEAD...

ARION has a new comic mag available and you have a chance of

winning MARVEL Digital Codes if you buy it.  Details here.

BABE Of The DAY - CINDY CRAWFORD...

CINDY CRAWFORD shows off

her invisible sword-swallowing act on

the beach.  Is there no end to the girl's

 talents?  Give a big hand for Cindy!

PART FORTY-TWO Of FAVOURITE COMICS Of The PAST - SHOWCASE #94 (EXPANDED)...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Apparently (if I've got my comics history right), SHOWCASE #94 was originally intended to publish the first appearance of JACK KIRBY's ORION Of The NEW GODS, until DC COMICS decided to give the series its own title.  Because of that, the last issue of Showcase was #93 in 1970.  Number 94 eventually turned up in '77, featuring the debut of The New DOOM PATROL, who also starred in #s 95 & 96.  Incidentally, ROBOT MAN's new body was inspired by JOHN BYRNE's character - ROG-2000.

And now for the eagerly anticipated (cough) personal bit.  On the Saturday I first bought this issue, I was making my way home just as it was getting dark, and took a detour through the grounds of one of my old schools.  On the far side of a putting green adjacent to the school grounds was a small wooded area, the silhouette of which, it seemed to me in the gathering gloom, was the perfect double of the background on the comic's cover.  That's why, even today, I can't look at one without also thinking of the other.

Hard to believe that was very nearly 40 years ago.  My old school is now gone and a new structure stands in its place, but the one I knew yet exists in the evergreen land of memory - especially when I look at the cover of Showcase #94.  Got any memories associated with this ish?  Then get typing, frantic ones.

   

I've had replacements for issues #94 & 96 for years now, but since first writing this, I've acquired #95 to complete the trilogy.  I've therefore added their covers and splash pages to this post so that all three issues are together.  I seem to associate these mags with the same newsagent's I bought #94, so that's more than likely where I originally got them.  Enjoy.

FAVOURITE COMICS Of The PAST - PART FORTY-ONE: SUPERMAN #251...

Images copyright DC COMICS

At one time, I could've told you in exactly which shop I purchased my original copy of SUPERMAN #251, but now I'm none too sure.  (Maybe it'll come back to me later*.)  What I can tell you with absolute certainty, however, is the precise date on which I bought it - October 7th 1972.  The reason I remember is because that was the very day that The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL #2 went on sale, which I'd obtained earlier that surprisingly sunny Saturday morning.  A few hours later, I also took possession of TERRIFIC #1 and The SUPER-HEROES #1, two comics from the '60s, which I picked up in a jumble sale in The Old Parish Church Hall in the Old Village quarter of my town.

I've long since acquired replacements for all the comics I got that day, the above one being bought around 1980 or '81 ('82 at the latest), which means that I've now owned it for a far greater period of time than I ever had my original copy.  It should come as no surprise to any of you (mainly because I've said the same thing many times before) when I say that all it takes is one glance at its cover or contents, and I'm magically whisked back to the '70s (wait for it, here it comes) faster than a fart from The FLASH.  I found the 'classic tale' of particular interest, because Superman changes his features (much like the FF's MISTER FANTASTIC can) to resemble his alien foes, and uses 'telepathic will-control' to influence the mind and actions of his captor.

So there you have it!  Yet another of my 'Favourite Comics of the Past'.  Is it also one of yours?  Then why not indulge in a spot of pleasant reminiscing and tell your fellow Crivvies all about it?  After all, why should I have all the fun?  The comments section awaits!

(*It would be one of three places: R.S. McCOLL'S in my neighbourhood shops, the one in my local Town Centre, or a newsagent's named M.B. BARR in the aforementioned Old Village.)