1971 ROYAL MINT DECIMAL PROOF SET...

There's a little toning on some of the coins in this 1971 Proof Set, but that's to be expected with coins of this age, even those enclosed in plastic display cases. Examples of a few of these coins were first released in the late 1960s, which is strange to consider now, because, in my mind, £sd coinage belong in the '60s and decimal ones in the '70s.  The fact that both sets of currency overlapped (and in the case of the £sd equivalents of decimal coins, for many years afterwards) is something we of a certain age tend to forget now.

BOB IS BRITISH - AND PROUD OF IT...

The shilling, also called the 'bob' still exists in its decimal equivalent today - namely, the 5 pence piece.  This set by COINCRAFT displays six incarnations of the British 'bob' down through the decades.  These half-dozen coins add up to only 30 pence in decimal money, or 72 pennies in £sd.  (Sounds better, doesn't it?)

(In the above scan, some of the coins seem a little 'toned', but that's not how they look 'in the flesh'.  As you can see from their reverse sides below.)

BABE Of The DAY - DALIAH LAVI...

DALIAH LAVI cracks a smile on seeing

me prancing about in my big underpants.  Hey,

don't laugh - not everyone wears big underpants

because they've got a big bum.  I wear them for an

altogether different reason.  (Yup, you guessed

it - I'm wearing them over my head.)

CRIVENS' CLASSIC COMIC COVERS: SILVER SURFER #1 (ONE-SHOT)...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

Ah, the memories associated with this impressive comic cover come flooding back to me on sight of it.  I actually purchased two copies (still got them) from, I think, the VIRGIN MEGASTORE in Glasgow.  Then I bought two JIM REEVES LPs from the HMV store just along from it.  (Or maybe I got them in the reverse order to how I've just described.)  Then I leapt on the train home, examining my new acquisitions all the way.  I still have one of the Jim Reeves LPs, the other I later gave to a record shop as I already had the U.K. version, having bought the second copy simply because it was the U.S. release and had a different sleeve.

Y'know, it really only seems like a very short time ago rather than the 35 years it actually is.  I find it hard to get my head around that sometimes.  Anyway, I know none of you are bothered with all that, but what memories, if any, does this cosmic cover conjure up in your mind when you look at it?  Relive them in our comments section and compare notes with your Criv-ite chums.

REMINISCING REPOST: 'HULLORERR CHINAS' - THE DAY I MET THE LEGENDARY RIKKI FULTON...

U.S. filmgoers may recall him in supporting roles as sinister KGB officer MAJOR PRIBLUDA in GORKY PARK and Dr. GEDDES in LOCAL HERO, but to Scottish audiences, RIKKI FULTON was a genuine comedy and acting legend.  Not only in his own right, but also alongside another giant of TV and theatre, JACK MILROY, in their iconic alter-egos of FRANCIE & JOSIE, the work-shy Glasgow layabouts.

Back in the merry month of May, 1982, I had the good fortune and great privilege of meeting Mr. Rikki Fulton in JOHN MENZIES (when said establishment was situated near the bottom of Glasgow's Buchanan Street, across from FRASER'S), and, for all those interested in learning how your humble host managed to rub shoulders with the great man himself, I shall now recount exactly what transpired.

I'd just stepped out of the lift on the ground floor, having been in the record & book departments on the first, when I spied a familiar figure leaning on the counter at the stationery section.  "Rikki Fulton!" I gasped (more to myself than anyone else) in sheer disbelief at seeing a principal member of showbiz royalty mingling with mere mortals.  (I was only 23 at the time, so can surely be forgiven my youthful exuberance.)  Rikki Fulton, whom I'd seen in The FRANCIE & JOSIE Show on TV back in the 1960s, right in front of me - in the actual, living, breathing, pulsing flesh.  I'd thought such figures used servants or emissaries for menial tasks like shopping, but apparently not. 

He appeared to be writing something and, thinking he was signing an autograph, I approached (having calmed down a tad) and meekly asked if I, too, could have his autograph.  "As long as it's not on one of these!" he said without missing a beat, smiling and indicating the cheque to which he was applying his name. Clearly my cue to laugh at his witty and apropos remark, but I was still too stunned at seeing him in person to respond with appropriate appreciation for his quick-thinking, ad-libbed riposte, so merely stood there like a fart in a trance.

I got a scrap of paper from the girl serving him and, smiling in the most friendly manner, Rikki asked my name.  "Gordon" I managed to stammer.  I'd regained my composure somewhat by the time he handed me the note inscribed "For Gordon, Rikki Fulton", so I thanked him then said: "Sorry to have bothered you".  "Absolutely no bother at all" was his warm and genuine response before moving toward the exit.  No minders, no entourage - just an ordinary, everyday guy out shopping.  Of course, in truth there was nothing ordinary or everyday about him - the man was a showbiz titan and comedy genius.

I still have that little piece of paper, tucked safely into the protective clear sleeve of my FRANCIE & JOSIE vinyl LP by GOLDEN GUINEA. (Yet available on CD on ELM Records - CDELM4123.)  And whenever I recall that moment, a warm glow comes over me at the thought of it.  Rikki Fulton was the epitome of the perfect gentleman; kind and gracious to a stumbling, bumbling, starstruck fan and treating me as though I were doing him a favour.  I'll tell you, a lot of so-called celebrities in any sphere you care to mention could learn something about how to behave to the public from the legend that was - that is - Rikki Fulton.

BABE Of The DAY - DALIAH LAVI...

"Jump right in, the water's lovely!"

says sultry and sensational DALIAH

LAVI.  "The water's not quite what I'm

looking at," quips I, "but I aim to make

 a splash!"  (Oh, I'm so bad, Crivs.)

A HAPPY EASTER TO ALL CRIV-ITES...

From the pages of BUSTER & JET, cover-dated April 21st

1973, comes KEN REID's longest-running weekly strip (16 years),

the boy with a 100 (later 1,000) faces - FACEACHE!  As today is

Easter Sunday, I thought I'd give you a strip about Easter -

can't say I haven't got my finger on the pulse, eh?  Enjoy.

CRIVENS' CLASSIC COMIC COVERS: MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #7...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

GHOST RIDER - MIKE PLOOG - a real comic.  What's not to like?  I give you - MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #7.  ("Hey, stop shining it in my face, why don'tcha?!")  Now that's what I call a cool-looking cover!  I bet he's glad he traded in his horse.  (Yeah, yeah, relax - I know he's a different GR.  Incidentally, excellent choice of initials for a hero, I'm bound to say.)

KULL The KING - By JOHN SEVERIN...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS and CPI

JOHN SEVERIN was one hell of an artist. I wish I had more examples of his published comics work as it was just a sheer joy to behold.  Here's a piccie of KING KULL he drew, I imagine back in the '70s, but I could be wrong.  Look at that lush pen & brush (?) work - it just doesn't get any better than that, amigos.

KLASSIC KOMIC KOVERS: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #47 (Featuring The HULK And SUB-MARINER)...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

When I showed the above cover before, I had to enlarge a much smaller image of it from one of my OMNIBUS volumes.  This cover is from an issue just bought on eBay for less than the price of a pie supper (inclusive of p&p).  JIM STARLIN at his mightiest.  Great, innit?

Below is the original '74 cover alongside the book reprint.  Any slight variation in colouring will be due to differences in printing methods between then and now (I imagine), rather than a different palette being used on the second version.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY...

Here's a couple of slightly clearer, sharper scans of various £sd coinage (from a ROYAL MINT set) for you to paste your peepers 'pon, Criv-ite chums.  I truly believe that I deserve to be rich, 'cos no one would enjoy running their fingers through treasure chests of coins more than I would.  So send me all your money - now.  (If you'd be so kind.)

PARCELS IN THE POST...

Copyright REBELLION

One huge highlight of my 15-year career as a comics contributor was lettering the art of comics legend TERRY BAVE.  I lettered quite a few of his strips, but it was a particular thrill one day when I was given a SAMMY SHRINK page of Terry's to letter, as I'd enjoyed the strip in WHAM! in the '60s.  DAVE JENNER had been the original artist, but Terry took over, ghosting Jenner's style remarkably effectively until he was allowed to gradually introduce his own artistic look.  (Sammy went on to feature in KNOCKOUT, and then WHIZZER & CHIPS.)

Quite a few years ago, I was able to supply Terry with a copy of the Wham! issue in which his very first Sammy strip appeared.  He kindly sent me some autographed comics he'd worked on as a thank you, each and every one of which I still retain to this day.  He even graciously supplied art and articles to The Illustrated COMIC JOURNAL when I was the assistant editor of the magazine for a while in the '90s.  I've got huge respect for Terry, both as a cartoonist and the gentleman he is.

  

I hadn't heard from him in a while, so you can imagine my surprise and delight when I got a 'phone call from Terry out of the blue a couple of weeks or so back.  We talked about the old days, and have chatted another couple of times since.  I was also delighted today when a pair of cardboard tubes arrived from Terry, containing several comics as well as a page of Sammy Shrink art, all personally autographed by his good self.  (His wife Shiela kindly signed the Sammy artwork as well.)  That's a scan of the published page at the top of this post.

I was surprised to see Terry's name was removed from the middle picture of the central tier, as I thought that editors at IPC/FLEETWAY had abandoned the practice of deleting artists' signatures by this time.  (It remains on the original art.)  I'm bowled over by Terry's generosity, because among the treasures he sent to me are MONSTER FUN #1 (with BADTIME BEDTIME STORYBOOK), COR!! #1, and KNOCKOUT #1, along with a few other first issues.  No, none of them will be going on eBay, 'cos I'm keeping them forever.  After all, our man Terry's one of comics' finest.

There are some good (and even great) cartoonists working in today's comics, but unfortunately, there are also far too many mediocre ones, who've reduced comics to the level of stick drawings on cave walls.  However, although he has a seemingly simple art style, Terry is a superlative storyteller and consummate cartoonist, and it's just a shame that he no longer draws for comics today.  He deserves his retirement sure enough, but comics would certainly benefit from his artistic talents.

So here's to Terry - one of nature's finest gentlemen.  U.K. comics would've been so much the poorer for his absence, as they'd also have been without his devoted wife Shiela helping him over the decades.  A few years ago, Terry wrote about his career in British weekly comics, and if you don't have a copy of his fascinating volume, you should add one to your collection as soon as you possibly can.  (Available now at this link.)

******

In case any of you are wondering why I've spelled Terry's wife's name as Shiela instead of the more usual Sheila, it's because that's how Terry himself always spells it.  I'm not sure which version Shiela/Sheila uses.

GET YER THRU'PENNY BITS OUT...

I've scanned these sets (by COINCRAFT) together, facilitating me displaying them at a slightly larger size.  I remember one Sunday night back around 1976, a Scottish TV sports commentator (ARTHUR MONTFORD maybe) was delivering a talk at a local youth club (yes, I was still young enough - just) and he told the tale of a football player attempting to head the ball, but on making contact, the ball shot off at an odd angle. "Ach, ye've got a heid like a thru'penny bit!" shouted someone from the stands.  As Arthur said, the instant you heard this, a mental picture appeared in your head of someone with a head shaped like a thru'penny coin.  Pure gold.

Anyway, here are examples of every brass threepenny bit (both sides) produced from 1937-1967.  Interestingly, although the 3d was issued in ROYAL MINT Proof Sets until 1970 and remained legal tender until August 31st 1971, none were minted for circulation after 1967.  Not a lot of people know that.

Now, however, you do.

******

Anyone recall if there was a Scottish TV football commentator called ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG in the 1970s?  (Not the AA who presents POINTLESS.)  That's the name in my head, but, if he existed, I can't find out anything about him when I do an Internet search.)

BABE Of The DAY - TERESA MAY...

Then again, may not.  You never

can tell with TERESA.  This is how

she looks before taking off her make-

up and doing her day job, running the

country.  You'd never believe it was

 the same woman, would you?

LET'S TALK COMICS...

If you have any statuettes or ornaments in your home, I bet that you probably look at them more often than you actually touch them.  However, there's just something about having the actual physical articles to indulge yourself when you feel like being more tactile with your cherished items.  If I were to offer to buy them and give you a few photos so that you could still see them whenever you wanted, it wouldn't quite be the same, would it?

To me, it's the same with comics.  I don't just want to read a comic, I want to own it, touch it, smell it, linger within its pages (oh, steady, that's a bit steamy), because a comic is an experience beyond the mere reading of its contents.  That's because I love comics - the actual 'physical' embodiment of a comic, and not just the comic strip material it contains.  It's the carton as well as the content that does it for me.

Book lovers are the same.  To them it's not just about reading the story, it's about turning the pages, the feel of the cover, the smell of the book, the taking it down from, and putting it back up on the shelf.  If you're only interested in the tale it contains, then you can read it on an iPad or Tablet or whatever, but to a lover of books, that's a second-best experience at least.  To perch on the porcelain - or anywhere else - with a book or comic in your hands is a magical thing that true lovers of the format are loath to relinquish.

That's why the comics 'industry' is, essentially, dead (though it's being kept going on 'life-support').  It's unlikely that the comic strip industry will ever expire, as that can take the form of books, albums, and exist in a digital format.  However, to the comics lover (the actual physical manifestation of a comic that is), such incarnations fail to satisfy.  Ironically, although I've sometimes been accused (by a few cretins) of illegally downloading comics, I never read digital comics - I'm simply not interested in them.  Any digital images I might have (old, out-of-print strips) are stopgaps 'til I can track down and acquire the actual published item.

So if you like comic strips, you can read them in various forms, and those who earn their living from writing and drawing them probably aren't too bothered about what form their work takes just as long as folk get to see it and (more importantly) they continue to be paid for it.  However, if like me (and thousands more) you recognise the exclusive thrill that comes from reading and handling an actual, paper periodical, you'll lament the fact that the traditional British comics industry seems to have breathed its last.

I have loads of books that collect comic strips of the past and I think they're great.  I love books, but to be honest, wherever possible, I think I'd prefer to have the original comics.  That's because books and comics are different, and tickle the senses in different ways.  Even when the content is the same in both formats, if I had to make a choice, I'd more than likely opt for the original presentation.  Case in point: I once bought the OMNIBUS volume of MARVEL's SILVER SURFER, even though I've got all 18 original issues.  I examined every single page, savouring the near-perfect reproduction - then I put it aside and dug out my original issues and read them.

Some folk won't understand that.  To them, the content is the important thing.  And of course it is important.  However, to lovers of traditional published comics as they've been for decades, the carton is equally as important.  However great a present may be, it always seems far better if it's wrapped up and presented in pretty paper, ribbons and bows, etc.  Without that, it can sometimes seem less than it actually is.  So the old comics industry is dead, but the comic strip industry will go on.  However, despite a strong resemblance due to the fact they're related, they're not quite the same thing.  In my view anyway.

How about you?

GOT A QUID FOR A CUPPA TEA, GUV'NOR...?

Here's some more dosh for you to slobber and drool over, Criv-ite chums.  Don't you feel richer just looking at it?  The first two notes are from the Britannia Series, and the third from the Pictorial Series.  A mere £3 in total, but don't they somehow look worth a lot more?  (And not just because I've shown both sides of each one, making it look like you're looking at six notes instead of only three.)

FANCY A BARGAIN? THEN THIS LITTLE CHAP IS FOR YOU!

Look at this little cracker of a toy.  It's a wee wind-up robot that only costs a £1 from HOME BARGAINS.  How does that even cover the cost of the deluxe box that serves as its home?  If you like retro-style toys to remind you of your childhood, then pop along to HB and buy yourself a robot today!

"ANY SPARE CHANGE, GUV'NOR?" LOADS OF IT, MY SON...

Here's a coin set by a company called COINCRAFT, containing an example of every British coin in circulation at the time of QUEEN ELIZABETH II's Coronation in 1953.  Again, not as sharp as they could be due to being scanned in their display case, but only slightly blurred.  And look at the farthing, which ceased being produced in 1956, and was finally demonetised at the end of 1960.  (I think I prefer these old coins to the decimal ones.)

JUST A NOTE TO REMIND YOU. (WELL, TWO, ACTUALLY)...

Look at these two notes from the 1960s.  In total, a mere £1.50 in today's money, but don't they look as though they're worth far more?  There's just something about paper money that somehow gives the impression of having a greater monetary significance.  These notes were known as the Portrait Series, and were around from 1961 to 1971.  Were you around then, and do you remember them? 

PROOF THAT I'M COINING IT IN...

Over the next few days I'm going to be showering you lot with money.  My money.  I collect certain coins and notes, and I'm going to be sharing them with you (visually at least) over several posts.  This one's the 1970 ROYAL MINT Proof Set, with a halfpenny that was never legal tender as the coin was demonetised on July 31st 1969 - making this one a bit of a collectors' item.

I've scanned these coins in their cases, so apologies if they're not 100% in focus, but they're clear enough to let you appreciate their individual aesthetic appeal.

Are you into old coins?  Like me, do you yet regard pre-decimal coins as real money and today's currency as base pretenders?  Tell your fellow Criv-ites in our scintillating comments section, why don'tcha?!

    

BABE Of The DAY - RAQUEL WELCH...

"Look, you handsome hunk, I'll give

you all this cash for just one date" pleads

ravishing RAQUEL WELCH.  You couldn't

afford me, doll - and just what kind of guy

do you think I am anyway?  (Aside from a

 devastatingly handsome one I mean.)

LET'S GET INDUSTRIOUS...

I'm often amused and amazed in equal measure when I hear some people claiming there's still a real comics 'industry' in this country.  I'm having a bit of a guess here, but I suspect if you combined the sales of every genuine British comic available today, the total would still be lower than a mere handful of comics from the '60s & '70s.  One successful title back then sold more than just about any four or five different ones do now, so that pretty much speaks for itself.

"But look at all the comic events taking place," they bleat.  "That proves that there's still a huge interest in comics."  Even if that were true, interest doesn't necessarily equal industry.  Once, comics sold in large numbers without requiring promotion by special events to try and fan a dying spark into a flame.  One could argue that such events prove what dire straits the so-called industry is in.  Comics never needed such 'events' in their heyday.

Far fewer comics writers and artists make a living from the 'industry' now than was once the case (there just isn't the same number of opportunities), so you can regard such optimistic claims by folk trying to 'talk things up' as just that - which is understandable, but not an accurate reflection of reality.  As for those few folk who do get a decent share of work, as somebody once pointed out, if you have a larder full of food at a time of famine, you may wonder why some people are claiming to be hungry, but you're living in a bubble.

I'd find such claims about how healthy the industry is more credible if some of those making them weren't currently recycling old strips in self-publishing ventures in order to supplement their incomes.  Self-publishing is a hobby (or vanity-project) - not an industry.  There's no shame in that of course, but let's call it what it is, not what some folk would prefer it to be.

DON'T BE BLUE - The ORIGINAL X-MEN ARE BACK...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

Despite my occasional critiques about 'deficiencies' in JACK KIRBY's art, I'm a huge fan and think that, when he was at the top of his game, he was untouchable.  (Especially when inked by someone like WALLY WOOD.)  So I always get a thrill when I see his early MARVEL work gracing the cover of a contemporary comicbook.

Such a one is X-MEN BLUE #1, the first issue of a new series about the original X-Men, time-plucked from the past into the present day.  It was okay, but I just love the above variant cover, even though Jack's drawn The BEAST with gloves, something he never wore.

If you think this mag might be your cup of tea, it's now on sale at all good comicbook shops.  So race right 'round to your nearest one at the earliest opporchancity and grab yourself a copy before they're all gone.  First come, first served.

KLASSIC KIRBY KOMIC KOVERS: The FANTASTIC FOUR #33...

Image copyright MARVEL COMICS

Gotta be honest and say I don't think JACK KIRBY's collages always worked, but this one sure did.  My one and only problem with it is that once again, Jack has drawn The THING far too small - SUSIE positively towers above him, even though BEN's meant to be in front of her.  That apart though, it's certainly a very effective cover.

BABE Of The DAY - JERI RYAN...

 JERI RYAN pauses at the foot of

the stairs to ask me if I'm coming to bed.

"Not if you're going to wear those stupid

pyjamas, I'm not!" says I.  "Who wants to

sleep with a mermaid?!"  (It smells kind

of fishy to me, let me tell you.)