KID KLASSICS: CAPTAIN ACTION-MAN (WITH COMICS COVER GALLERY)...

Playing Mantis Captain Action, with professionally
produced, shrink-wrapped replica of original box

Apparently, CAPTAIN ACTION creator STAN WESTON was one of a trio responsible for G.I. JOE - which is interesting (to me) because, in Great Britain, G.I. Joe was rechristened ACTION MAN.  As a lad in the '60s, I don't recall seeing Captain Action (or Captain Magic, as he was originally going to be named) on sale in this country, but I knew about the character through the adverts in comics issued by NATIONAL PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS Inc. (DC COMICS), such as SUPERMAN and BATMAN, etc.  I instantly coveted this wondrous item, but it wasn't until toy company PLAYING MANTIS re-released IDEAL's iconic action-figure in 1998 that I finally managed to acquire one.

DC Comics published a title based on the character in the latter half of the 1960s, but its brief five issue run indicates that it wasn't quite as popular as anticipated.  Featuring artwork by WALLY WOOD and GIL KANE, and written first by JIM SHOOTER and then by Kane himself, the comics boasted some spectacular cover art, which I now unselfishly share with you here.  They're scanned from my very own copies which I obtained many years ago, but should still be relatively easy to obtain from back issue specialists in comicbook stores and on eBay.

The ad below (drawn by KURT SCHAFFENBERGER) comes from DETECTIVE COMICS #359 ("The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!"), but the previous owner has defaced The PHANTOM figure by drawing stripes on his costume.  Tsk!  Some people, eh?

I'd be interested in the reminiscences of American readers who had this toy when they were kids, and whether any Brits actually managed to get their hands on one back in the '60s.

      

And, if you're lucky, you may still be able to get this great book (below) all about Captain Action from your local comicbook store. This is the first printing, but I believe a revised and updated edition was made available a year or two back.

BABE Of The DAY - LINDA THORSON...

"Linda, Linda, wish you were mine"

run the words of a song.  Very apt, as any

man would wish LINDA THORSON was

his.  That makes Linda a popular woman!

She certainly is with me anyway.

NEW OLD COMICS BLOG...

Regular commenter JOHN PITT now has his own

blog about comics, called MY OLD COMICS!, which

can be found by simply clicking this link.  So why not

drop in and leave a comment of support?

JUST OUT OF REACH - JIM REEVES...

Yeah, I know - I've played this one before, but it's ultra-relaxing.  This

song is within your reach - it's only a click away.  Press that key now.

BABE Of The DAY - MICHELLE KEEGAN...

"Come on in, the water's lovely!" trills

stunning MICHELLE KEEGAN.  I'm staying

where I am though - 'cos from here, the view is

even lovelier.  What a gal and no mistake!

RECOMMENDED READING: The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL #1 (VOLUME SIX)...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

On October 20th, a new volume of The MIGHTY WORLD

Of MARVEL goes on sale.  This mag first appeared back in 1972

and, a couple of spells in limbo aside, is still around today.  Jump

aboard for a new number one next month, Marvel fans!

RECOMMENDED READING: The BLACK PANTHER EPIC COLLECTION VOLUME ONE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Here's one that's available from all good comicbook shops on Wednesday, frantic fans - The BLACK PANTHER EPIC COLLECTION Volume One.  Beginning with T'CHALLA's earliest appearances in The FANTASTIC FOUR mag, and continuing with his own strip from JUNGLE ACTION, if you're a BP fan, you're sure to love this magnificent tome.

Read the spiel, and save your shekels until Wednesday.  Then get right 'round to your nearest store and buy one.

SO... YOU'VE GOT SEVEN DAYS TO LIVE - HOW WOULD YOU FEEL?

This is a tale about a man in prison waiting to face the electric chair, narrated by JIM REEVES (following a sung intro-verse), and I'm sure you're all going to love it.  Take it away, Jim...

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - The VOLUPTUOUS VALERIE LEON...

You want words?  It's VALERIE

LEON for feck's sake, who needs words?

Okay then, I'll give you words - Hubba-

 Hubba!  Drool!  Slobber!  Happy?

LEGENDS Of The SUPERHEROES - BLECCCHHHHH!!!

Characters copyright DC COMICS

It may come as a surprise to some of you, but ADAM WEST and BURT WARD reprised their BATMAN and ROBIN roles more than once over the years, and not just for cartoons either.  In 1979, they appeared alongside other DC heroes and villains in a couple of TV Specials called - wait for it - LEGENDS Of The SUPERHEROES.

The other heroes were CAPTAIN MARVEL, The FLASH, The HUNTRESS, BLACK CANARY, GREEN LANTERN, and HAWKMAN, while the super villains were MORDRU, SOLOMON GRUNDY, The RIDDLER (yup, Mr. FRANK GORSHIN), The WEATHER WIZARD, Dr. SIVANA, SINESTRO, and GIGANTA.

The ATOM and AUNT MINERVA turned up in the second Special, but I have to be honest and say both episodes are excruciatingly awful, and you should all count yourselves lucky if you've never seen them.  Shot on videotape, with a laugh-track (yup, they're meant to be funny - but aren't) these two low-budget shows are the way not to do superheroes.  And here's why:

You never see The Flash run, Hawkman fly (or even flap his wings) and Green Lantern merely points his power ring at himself and disappears.  Captain Marvel does a spot of flying, but it's a poorly executed piece of back (or maybe front - what do I know?) projection for a few seconds.  You have to hand it to Adam West for throwing himself into things, but he really should have tucked the neck of his mask inside his cape, like in the '60s TV show.

Take it from me, you can safely give these two shows a miss - unless you're a diehard fan of 'car-crash' TV.  They're both genuinely execrable, though the second one, The ROAST, is even worse than the first, The CHALLENGE.  I suppose if there's anyone you really hate, you could give them this as a present, secure in the knowledge that they'll lose the will to live while watching it.

But no - that would surely be too cruel!  (Remember the rumours of torture at GUANTANAMO BAY?  They were true - they showed this DVD to the detainees.)

"WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO ALL YOUR STUFF WHEN YOU DIE, DADDY?"

I sometimes find myself worrying about what will happen to my massive collection of toys, comics and books when I fall off the twig in around 100 years or so (I'm not planning on going early or easily).  Will I ever get around to establishing a museum of childhood, or will all my stuff end up in charity shops or dustbins?  It's a bit like being a parent and having to think about making provisions for your children when you're not here.

Are you a proud collector?  What would you like to have happen to your beloved treasures when you eventually have to cast off this mortal coil?  None of the "I'll be dead so I don't care" cop-outs; what would be the ideal fate of all your material companions through life that would allow you to bow out with the assurance that they'd be cared for and cherished after you've gone exploring in that 'final frontier' ?

And what's the absolute gem of your collection, the one item that, if everything else was jettisoned by your heirs, you'd breathe a little easier in the hereafter (if there is one - and if you can breathe) so long as it survived and was looked after and appreciated by its new owner?  Too difficult a question?  Okay, you can pick three items.  So what are they?  Reveal all in the captivating comments section, Criv-ite chums.

TRIVAGO BABE Of The DAY - GABRIELLE MILLER...

Here's GABBY - what

 more do you want?

KLASSIC KIRBY KOMIC KOVERS: CAPTAIN AMERICA #106 - "CAP GOES WILD!"

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

Always liked this cover.  True, JACK KIRBY's more abstract style was becoming more prominent by this time, but no one can deny that this image has impact!  If you don't have this mag, you're probably unaware that Cap's fighting a Life Model Decoy of himself (STEVE ROGERS), but the LMD has certain advantages that the real Star-Spangled AVENGER doesn't, making it an uneven battle!  So who wins?  You'll have to read the issue to find out, 'cos my lips are sealed.  Reprinted in the new CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION Volume 2 - on sale now!

BABE Of The DAY - MICHELLE KEEGAN...

Amazing the stuff you find lying on the

beach while taking a stroll along the seashore.

Nobody wanted her, so I just took her home with

me.  (Well, 'finders keepers' innit?)  Says her name

is MICHELLE KEEGAN and babbles on about

some place called 'Weatherfield', though I've

 no idea what she's talking about.

STRANGE TALES COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

In 1975, MARVEL decided to reprint Dr. STRANGE in the mag where he'd first appeared - STRANGE TALES.  The reprints lasted for seven issues, each featuring two stories, though some of the continued tales were edited into one, omitting up to two pages in the process.  This resulted in an adventure consisting of 60 pages in total being reduced to 50.  In #183, the Dr. Strange 'half' of #130's cover (by JACK KIRBY) was enlarged and used as the full cover, making this ish the only one of the seven to reuse a '60s cover image.  (The others sported new art.)  Here then is a look back at a brief time in the sizzlin' '70s - enjoy!

RECOMMENDED READING: CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION VOLUME TWO...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Ooh, here's a great big beauty of a book for you - CAPTAIN AMERICA EPIC COLLECTION Volume 2.  With artwork by KIRBY, STERANKO, COLAN, ROMITA, and BUSCEMA, that sure is a roll-call of some heavy duty illustrators contained within the covers of a single softcover tome.  If you bought the first volume, then you'll definitely want to add this second one to your collection.  Now, which establishments would stock a book like this?  That's a tough one.  Wait a minute - I know!  All good comics shops and bookstores of course.

RECOMMENDED READING: DOCTOR STRANGE OMNIBUS...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Do I need this book?  I've already got the stories.  I've got a few original issues of STRANGE TALES, various reprints in MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS, MARVEL TALES, and MARVEL MASTERWORKS, etc.  So I already have all the stories - several times over.

But hey, it's STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO, it's DOCTOR STRANGE, it's a great big deluxe hardback OMNIBUS volume - of course I need this book!  And so do you, so buy one as soon as you can!  And remember these immortal words - "May your amulet never tickle!"

BABE Of The DAY - LYNDA CARTER...

Here's WONDER WOMAN

without her striking costume - the

 stunning LYNDA CARTER.

RECOMMENDED READING: The ADVENTURES Of The FLY...

Images copyright relevant owners

Once, in an alternate universe, JACK KIRBY showed a SPIDERMAN (no hyphen) logo by JOE SIMON to STAN LEE, and pitched to him the idea for a superhero who'd been rechristened The SILVER SPIDER before metamorphosing into The FLY.  In this alternate universe, STEVE DITKO did not advise Stan of the similarity of Spiderman to The Fly, and MARVEL's newest character got his wings clipped, either as a result of poor sales or a plagiarism lawsuit from rivals RED CIRCLE/ARCHIE COMICS.

At least, that's what could've happened if we're to believe a dissenting account of the events that led to SPIDER-MAN's creation.  We'll never know for sure whether it's true or not, but imagine PETER PARKER as a teenager who rubs a magic ring to transform into his alter-ego and you have an idea just how different things might've been in the Marvel Universe of the '60s.

Which brings me to this softcover book from 2004 which someone kindly gifted to me recently.  It contains the first four issues of The Fly, produced by Simon & Kirby (with others) before the duo quit the title.  The tales are simple, unsophisticated fare from an era when comicbooks were aimed squarely at kids, but they have their own distinct charm that makes the collection worth owning.  Though after reading the book, it reminded me just what an immense contribution Stan Lee made to the comicbook biz, something for which we should all be eternally grateful.

Some of the art and lettering restoration is a little dodgy, with at least one story appearing more like a tracing than a reprinting, but that aside, it's still an interesting look back at an earlier time in US four-colour comicbook history.  I imagine you'd be able to track down a copy on eBay or Amazon without too much difficulty or too great an expense.  Get hunting!

Ah, yes - how different things could have been indeed!

  

No 'Wide Angle Scream' in this ish apparently

Why no lettering?  Is it a reprint oversight or how it first appeared?

RECOMMENDED READING: COMIC BOOK FEVER...

Images copyright TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

A book you may enjoy is COMIC BOOK FEVER by GEORGE KHOURY, which celebrates comics from 1976 to 1986.  To be honest, my impression was that some chapters are stretched pretty thin as far as written content goes, with the author saying something because he has a book to fill, rather than because he has something interesting to say, but the visual images and chapters containing comments from comicbook stalwarts (like JOHN ROMITA and SAL BUSCEMA, etc.) compensate for this occasional inadequacy somewhat.

Anyway, read the back cover spiel and make up your own minds.  You could certainly spend your money in worse ways.  Available at all good comicbook shops and (I think) bookstores.