PAUL GULACY'S BATMAN...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Hard to believe that these issues are now more than 30 years old, bought while living in another house in what seems another life away.  I've always liked PAUL GULACY's art, and his style suits The BATMAN to a 't'.  Written by DOUG MOENCH, whose Batman tales are extremely engaging, these two comics are just how the Dark Knight should be done.  I've re-read quite a number of Mr. Moench's Bat-tales recently, and they really are top-notch entertainment.  Well-worth seeking out on eBay, or buying a collected edition.  Well - what are you waiting for?

BABE Of The DAY - GABRIELLE MILLER (The TRIVAGO GIRL)...

Here's that crackin' little cutie from

down under, GABRIELLE MILLER,

to put a smile on your face, Crivvies.  And

doesn't she do a great job on her whites?

 I wonder what her ironing's like?

RUMINATING REPOST: A COMICS CONTROVERSY - CARE TO COMMENT?

SUPERMAN's first issue of his own comic

Consider, if you will, fellow Criv-ites, the following scenario.  A person buys an ornament for £2 from a charity shop.  Later, upon reflection, they decide that they don't really like it, so when someone collecting for a jumble sale chaps their door, the ornament is handed over to help raise funds to repair a leaky church roof.

Ten years later, the first person is watching ANTIQUES ROADSHOW and sees "their" ornament declared as being worth £20,000.  Do they have a moral or legal claim on any of that money if the current owner decides to sell?

Now consider this.  Someone asks an artist to paint a picture of their house and gardens.  The artist charges them £300 and is extremely pleased at the amount he has secured for himself.  Five years later, a visitor to the purchaser's house is so enamoured of the painting that he offers them £5,000 for it.  Over the years, it changes hands for increased amounts until it's worth £50,000.  Does the artist have a moral or legal claim on any of the money it has changed hands for over the years?

The answer is surely "no" - isn't it?

So what's the difference between those two examples and what happened to SIEGEL and SHUSTER over SUPERMAN, or JACK KIRBY and the many characters he created or co-created for MARVEL or DC COMICS?  Or the work LEO BAXENDALE (or any artist you care to name) did for D.C. THOMSON or IPC/FLEETWAY?  I would suggest none at all.

BATMAN's first issue of his own comic

If you consent to sell something outright for an agreed fee, then it's really nothing to do with you what the purchaser does with his purchase or how much he profits from it in the years to come.  If you buy a house for £80,000 and then sell it for £100,000, the previous owner (even if he built the house) is neither legally nor morally entitled to a share of your profit.  And, back in the day, that's the way it was done in the world of comics.



That's not to say that I have anything against present-day creators' rights, profit-sharing, copyright ownership, artwork return, or anything like that - because that's the way things are done nowadays.

However, back in the 1930s (until the late '70s, early '80s), comics were just a job to the writers and artists - 'twas the publishers who took the financial risk in launching a new comicbook, so why shouldn't their share of the profits proportionately reflect that risk?

When a publisher bought a character, they bought it outright - if it was a success, they made money, if it was a failure, they didn't.  It's a safe bet that there were a lot more failures than successes in those days.  That was just the way the cookie crumbled.

Anyone got any thoughts on the matter?  Let's hear them.

BABE Of The DAY - HEATHER THOMAS...

Here's a pic of me and stunning

HEATHER THOMAS (from TV's

The FALL GUY) in her bath.  Where

am I, you may be asking?  I'm under

 the water, retrieving the soap.

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

Copyright REBELLION

It's been a while since we looked at any KEN REID art, so here's an episode of QUEEN Of The SEAS from SMASH! #5, cover-dated March 5th 1966.  Reid's artwork was a delight when he was at the height of his powers, and he was certainly firing on all cylinders when he drew this strip.  Sadly, towards the end of his career, while he was still capable of rendering the fine detail for which he was famous, the 'life' somehow seemed to have gone out of his drawings, leaving his pages somewhat stilted.  However, by then he'd done more than enough to ensure his place in the top tier of British cartooning greats.  All hail the mighty Ken Reid!

   

ADVENTURE Into... FEAR!

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Here's a great reprint mag published in 1970, simply entitled FEAR.  Containing stories from MARVEL's anthology monster mags, it's a nice little reminder of the sort of stories ATLAS (one of Marvel's previous names) produced before superheroes took off again in 1961 with the introduction of the Fabulous FF.

Some fine artists here, including KIRBY, DITKO, and HECK.  What more could you ask for in one mag?

HAT-TRICK HULK... (Plus One)

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

I know I've shown the covers of the first three HULK Annuals before, but I don't think I've shown the contents.  Well, I have now.  I got my original copy of #2 in R.S. McCOLL's in 1972 0r '73 ('74 at the latest), and whenever I look at the cover, I'm right back in that long-vanished shop again, wherein I bought many a comic, toy, or book.  Ah, happy memories!  I got the replacement many years ago, but #1 & 3 are my first-bought copies, acquired around the same time as my second copy of #2.  Who knows - maybe one day I'll buy the fourth issue, then the fifth, etc., etc.

However, that's something for me to decide in the fullness of time, not you.  No, your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to peruse and enjoy the power-packed pics laid out on display before you.  Then you can leave a comment saying which of these pages is your favourite - and why.  Any memories associated with them?  Don't be selfish - share them with your fellow Crivs.

 

Update: Back in 2017, I managed to acquire the fourth in the series and meant to add it to this post long before now (2023).  However, better late than never, so peel open your peep-holes and enjoy the following images.

BABE Of The DAY - DENISE VAN OUTEN...

Me and DENISE VAN OUTEN

had a funeral to attend the other day so

I said "Wear something black!" - and this

is what she put on.  So, unsurprisingly, we

never did make that funeral.  (This was

 on Earth 2 - or maybe I dreamt it.)

FAVOURITE COMICS Of The FUTURE - SUB-MARINER SPECIAL #2...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

"Hey, whaddya mean, 'Favourite Comics of the Future'? Are you on drugs or something?" you may be asking.  Well, it's just that I never knew about this comic until a few days ago, and as it's the next ish in line to SUB-MARINER King-Size Special #1, which I bought way back in the summer of 1972 or '73, I simply had to have it!  With no previous memories of - or associations with - the above mag, I can hardly claim it as a 'Favourite Comic of the Past', but no doubt it'll become a favourite in the future, hence the title.

Although the previous ish had been a 68 page Special, this one comprises only 52 (including covers) so it doesn't qualify as 'King-Size'.  I would've thought another Subby story could've been included, along with some pin-ups to round off the mag to 68 pages, so why MARVEL didn't do this is a bit of a mystery.  Having said that, this mag come out around the same time Marvel increased their regular line to 52 pages and upped the price from 15 to 25 cents.  Perhaps the Bullpen thought readers might wonder why some 25 cent mags had 68 pages while most others had only 52 and decide they were being ripped-off.

I suppose Marvel could simply have pointed out that reprint comics were less expensive to produce as the contents had already been paid for and therefore more pages could be allocated to them, but they probably wanted to avoid any controversy.  (As it turned out, the point was moot, as the 52-page regular line lasted only for one issue before reverting to 36, at a new price of 20 cents.)  Anyway, as I said in my 'teaser' post to this one a few days back, it's nice to finally add the second issue to my collection alongside its predecessor, 43-44 years after the event.

The '70s, of course, is when I bought my original copy of #1, but I never retained it long-term.  I acquired a replacement for it in the very early '80s, then replaced that with a better condition copy a little while later.  So, in the interests of accuracy, the gap between buying my current copy of #1 and #2 is actually approximately 33-34 years, but that's still a very long time.  Not that any of that will matter to you one whit, but I always like to be as precise as I possibly can.

Anyway, congratulations!  You managed to wade through my weary waffle and have therefore earned the right to savour the iconic images laid before you.  If you cheated and jumped straight to the pretty pics, then shame on you.  Turn in your F.O.O.M. membership card on the way out.

Incidentally, this strip seems to have been sourced from poor-quality photostats of the reprint
in British weekly, TERRIFIC #5.  It has U.K. spelling of two words, and there's a blank area
on one page where, in the U.K. version, the MARVEL copyright date had been.  Strangely
though, the B&W reproduction of the art in Terrific is far superior  

BONUS:  A close-up of the cover art - just for you!

BABE Of The DAY - DENISE VAN OUTEN...

Delicious DENISE VAN OUTEN

ponders her romantic email to me, asking

me out on a date.  When a hunk like me is

the prize, a gal has to choose her words with

extreme care to maximize her chances.  It's

tough being irresistible, but I do my best

 to live with it.  (No other choice.)

("Doctor, he's hallucinating again!")

RECOMMENDED READING: MARVEL EPIC COLLECTION - X-MEN VOLUME ONE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

The UNCANNY X-MEN!  I've got MASTERWORKS editions, OMNIBUS volumes, reprint magazines, Pocket Books, weekly British reprints and, in some cases, original issues - yet I still could't resist the lure of this EPIC COLLECTION book (from 2014) featuring the first 23 issues of the misunderstood mutants' monthly mag from the '60s. 

I doubt you'd be able to find a cheaper way of acquiring these comicbook classics, so do yourself a favour and race 'round to the nearest comicbook store and buy yourself a copy just as soon as you can.  The Marvel Age of comics is back!