BABE Of The DAY - MARILYN MONROE...

Here she is, fellas... the ultimate blonde -

MARILYN MONROE.  Spittin' image of my

last girlfriend - honest.  (Well, okay - she wore

the same style of skirt.  Close enough.)

KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS - AMAZING ADVENTURES #17...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

This comic is mainly reprint, in that it collects The BEAST's origin tales from the back-up stories that appeared in the X-MEN's own mag back in the 1960s.  They're topped and tailed by new segments to draw everything together, but it was probably prepared as a fill-in issue for when the regular strip missed the deadline.  However, it's worth it for the JIM STARLIN cover alone.

RONNIE RICH EGGS-ASPERATED AT EASTER...

Copyright relevant owner

Here's another Easter strip about the boy who wants to give away a fortune in order to inherit another one.  From SMASH! #116, published in 1968 - RONNIE RICH - no relation to the American RICHIE (at least as far as I know).

NEW RANGE OF CLASSIC THUNDERBIRDS TOYS COMING IN MAY FROM CORGI...

For fans of the classic series of THUNDERBIRDS, CORGI are releasing a new range of diecasts in May.  Well, to be honest, TB2 and FAB 1 were released back in 2005, but TB1 and TB3 are new.  Priced at £19.99 each (TB1 & TB3 count as one item), they're very reasonably priced considering what some people are asking for Corgi's 2005 TB2 and FAB 1 on eBay.

It's interesting to note that, unlike its 2005 release, this latest edition of FAB 1 doesn't have the ROLLS ROYCE radiator ornament The SPIRIT Of ECSTASY, making it (in my eyes) less collectable than the earlier version.  I wonder if RR refused permission, or whether Corgi would've had to pay for the privilege and decided not to in order to keep costs down.  Or maybe it was just too delicate and kept breaking off - anyone know?

Incidentally, TB1, TB2, TB3, and TB4 are clearly modelled after the MATCHBOX versions of the early '90s (though TB1 has a better finish).  FAB 1 has all the same features as the '60s DINKY classic, but its profile is less sleek-looking.  

THE ORIGINAL DANGER MOUSE EGGS-CAPES A TRAP...

Copyright relevant and respective owners

Yet another Easter strip from SMASH! - and look at that ad for the DINKY FAB 1.  CORGI were actually working on a prototype model in anticipation of acquiring the licence to produce a range of THUNDERBIRDS toys, but Dinky got given the gig instead.  A few years back, Corgi finally released a version of the car, which was essentially a copy of the Dinky incarnation, not their original design.  I've got both of 'em!

DOES EASTER GET ON YOUR NERVS...?

Waahoooo!  Yet another super Easter strip from SMASH! #61, first

published in 1967.  Which would you prefer - these brilliant comic strips

or a bundle of chocolate eggs?  If you gave the second answer, tough, 'cos

you're stuck with the strips.  You think I'm made of chocolate?  (Call the

nurse, he's talking p*sh again!)  Another strip soon - stay tuned.

  

RONNIE RICH IN EASTER EGGS-CESS...

Copyright REBELLION

Another slice of Easter fun from a 1967 issue of SMASH!  I'm not sure I ever quite understood Ronnie's motivation.  If he already had more dosh than he could ever manage to spend, then why the heck was he so eager to get his hands on a million quid?  Sheer greed I suppose.  Typical, eh?  He probably grew up to be a Tory politician.

GRIMLY FEENDISH AT EASTER...

Copyright REBELLION

The fun just goes on and on!  This time up it's GRIMLY FEENDISH's back page eggs-capade from SMASH! #61, way back in 1967.  Wow!  Nearly 50 years ago - doesn't time fly!  Looks like the yolk's on GF!  (Hey, if you think it's easy writing bad 'egg' puns, then write your own!)

DENNIS The MENACE At EASTER...

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

From the DENNIS The MENACE book for 1962 comes this Easter-themed tale of the world's wildest boy!  Eggs-actly what we need on a day like this.  This page would've been a reprint from an earlier issue of The BEANO - if you know which one, then consider yourself a true comics fan!  (And probably an old one.)

MORE EASTER MIRTH FROM SMASH!...

Copyright REBELLION

No need for any preamble from yours truly - not when The SWOTS & The BLOTS are running around loose.  So unwrap a big choccy Easter egg and stuff your face with it while you read this terrific 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...

Copyright REBELLION

Here's ghastly GRIMLY FEENDISH in an egg-citing Easter adventure, from SMASH! #116, cover-dated April 20th 1968.  Am I good to you Crivs or what?  What?  Hey, whaddya mean 'what'?  (And after all I've done for you!)

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!