NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL ART...

Copyright REBELLION

Just for the sheer hell of it, here's a stunning illustration by DON LAWRENCE, featuring characters from The TRIGAN EMPIRE.  For the full effect, click to enlarge, then click again.  (Note that there's something wrong with the old fella's left hand pointing at the city.  It's not up to the standard of the rest of the picture.)

******

And below is the book you'll surely be wanting to track down on eBay so you can have your own copy of the above endpapers, as well as the origins of The Trigan Empire.  Published by HAMLYN in 1978, it's a book well-worth having.   Good hunting. 

BABE Of The DAY - LINDA THORSON...

Cor!  Someone's whipped off LINDA

THORSON's top!  Don't fret, Linda, you

shall be avenged!  (Once I've had a good

long look, that is.  Can you blame me?)

HURRICANE ANNUAL 1965-'74 COVER GALLERY...

Copyright relevant owner

HURRICANE is another example of a British weekly periodical that was outlived by its Annual.  The comic went on sale in February 1964 (cover-dated 29th) and merged into TIGER after only 63 issues in May 1965.  The Annual, however, lasted to the '74 edition (issued near the end of '73), a whole eight years after the demise of the comic.  Here, then, are all ten Annual covers of a short-lived British weekly that is still fondly-remembered by readers of the time.

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - JULIE EGE...

Here's awesome JULIE EGE

doing what she does best - looking

gorgeous.  I'm off-frame, doing what I

do best, drooling at the mouth.  (It comes

naturally to me, you won't be surprised

to learn.)  Isn't that a nice little some-

 thing Julie's almost wearing?! 

THE GHOST-WHO-WALKS (OR: YOU'RE TOO OLD FOR PHARAOH TALES)...

The PHANTOM copyright KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, Inc 

Comics creators who contributed to CHARLTON COMICS were allowed a freedom that wasn't accorded by other comicbook companies.  Charlton were reputed to pay the lowest page rates in the business, but writers felt compensated by the lack of editorial 'interference' that was par for the course at MARVEL and DC (and doubtless other comics publishing companies as well).

So, good for the writers and maybe even the artists, but that didn't always necessarily translate into a superior product for the readers.  Case in point: The PHANTOM #32, published in 1969.  The plot involves a fake Pharaoh Phantom who seeks to usurp the position of the true 'Ghost-Who-Walks'.  Strangely though, the other Phantom is in Egypt, not Bengali, where the genuine Phantom has his jungle kingdom.

It's an entertaining enough little tale.  A royal sarcophagus is discovered during an excavation in Egypt's Valley Of Kings.  The lid is pried open and a mummified figure is exposed, who soon magically unravels and is revealed as The Pharaoh Phantom, who declares the real Phantom to be an imposter.  By use of seemingly supernatural means, the fake performs impressive displays of power that puts the genuine article deep in the shade.

As you can see in the accompanying pages, he's eventually exposed as the fraud he is, but - wait a minute - no explanation is ever given as to how he managed to plant himself in that sealed sarcophagus in a closed burial chamber to begin with.  His magical images from the past are shown to be the result of a projector on a screen, but just how did he manage to create these filmed images?  A huge budget would surely be required, and if they were merely extracted from a movie, it would be obvious.  I'm sure that most readers would've liked to know how he accomplished it, and have found the story more rewarding as a result.

STAN LEE, I'm sure, wouldn't have let this story pass without these aspects being explained, but whoever edited this issue obviously thought such things unimportant.  I disagree.  Creative freedom is all very well, but it's no excuse for laziness.  The readers deserve better, and had Charlton insisted that their writers put in a little more effort (and paid them better), the company might yet be around today.  Verdict?  Charlton produced lightweight, entertaining comics, but they could have done far better.

Got a view on the matter?  The comments section awaits.

PART TWO Of CADET'S STINGRAY SWEET CIGARETTE CARDS...

Copyright relevant owner

Y'know, it's an odd thing, but I associate the 21st century more with the mid-'60s than I do with the present day.  That's doubtless because I, like many kids of the time, was exposed to the 21st century through the TV puppet programmes of GERRY ANDERSON, the pages of TV CENTURY 21, and various other items of SUPERMARIONATION merchandise.

I don't especially remember having the sweet cigarette cards by CADET - certainly not the full set of them, though I may've had a few, but one look at them takes me right back to 1964 and forward to 2064 at the same time.  That's because the images are so strongly associated in my mind with those times, that even though I may not have had the cards, it seems that I did.

However, that's neither here nor there - you Crivs are here to see the cards, not read nostalgic nonsense about my childhood.  So feel free - paste your peepers to the pulsating pictures laid before you.  The comments section awaits your input.

BABE Of The DAY - MICHELLE KEEGAN...

Here's MICHELLE KEEGAN,

again frolicking on the seashore after

I returned the titanic temptress to just

 where I found 'er a few posts back.

 (Welcome to the world of my imagination.)

SECRET ORIGINS COVER & IMAGE GALLERY - PART THREE...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Nope, hadn't forgotten, even if it has been around three months since the first two parts in this series of SECRET ORIGINS cover galleries.  So let's not waste another second of boring intro from me, let's get straight into the pretty piccies.  (Before we do though, what about that DOLL MAN?  Somebody surely must have been high when they came up with that stinker of a name.  I can't see criminals trembling at the sound of it.  Laughing, yes - trembling, no.)

  

(BOND) BABE Of The DAY - JULIE EGE...

Summertime is over and there's a bit

of a nip in the air.  As you can just about

 see from looking at JULIE EGE.

CADET'S STINGRAY SWEET CIGARETTE CARDS - PART ONE...

Copyright relevant owner

You'll never guess what, Crivs.  Today, someone gave me - yes, gave me - a full set of CADET Sweet Cigarette STINGRAY and THUNDERBIRDS cards - for absolutely nothing!  That's right - free - gratis - for nowt!  Can you believe it?  Well, one good turn deserves another, and you, dear readers, are the lucky recipients as I'm going to share them with you right here on this humble blog of mine.

I'm just going to scan them in their protective sleeves to save me some hassle, so they might be a bit squint from time to time in their individual compartments, but I'm sure you'll all be able to live with that.  Another four parts to complete the Stingray collection, and then we'll follow that almost immediately with the Thunderbirds one.  Are you all agreeable to that?  Thought you might be.  Right, let's go.  "Anything can happen in the next half hour!"

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.