THE SENTINEL OF THE SPACEWAYS - COVER GRAB-BAG...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Further to my fairly recent posts about the SILVER SURFER, I thought I'd throw these three covers into the mix - just because I like them.  The first is FANTASY MASTERPIECES #1 from 1979, which reprinted 'ol NORRIN's premiere issue from the '60s.  Unfortunately, the stories in this series were abridged, with several pages being edited out for reasons of space.  How ironic, eh?  Denied space in the heavens - and the comicbooks. 

Next up is the 1982 one-shot by JOHN BYRNE, inked by terrific TOM PALMER.  It was an interesting issue, but not quite up there with the better issues by STAN LEE and JOHN BUSCEMA.  (Despite being scripted by Stan over a John Byrne plot.)  I bought two copies of this comic from the VIRGIN MEGASTORE in Glasgow back in '82, and remember perusing one of them on the train home.  Nearly thirty years later, I still have them - in just as good a condition as when I first bought them.

Finally, one of the issues of the Silver Surfer's then-new, ongoing series launched in '87, this particular example being from '89.  RON FRENZ, doing a composite of Kirby/Buscema images as only he can.  Although it can sometimes be jarring to see a mixture of two different art styles, there was something very 'sixties' about Ron's covers which always appealed to me.

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If I have one complaint about the Surfer, it's that he never looked silver enough. When Stan had characters refer to him as "Whitey", it never seemed as odd as it should have on account of him looking white.  I'm sure, even back in the '60s, there must have been a way of suggesting a more silvery appearance.  Anybody else feel the same?  Anyway, enjoy the above covers.

MICK ANGLO'S SUPER DC BUMPER BOOK 1971... (Updated)

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As promised a little while ago, here's the cover of the one and only SUPER DC Bumper Book for 1971, which completes the run of TOP SELLERS' monthly reprint title from the early '70s, as edited by MICK ANGLO.  It included various U.S. DC COMICS' strips (Superman, Batman, Jimmy Olsen, etc.), plus U.K.-produced text stories, features, joke pages and humour strips.

I'm not sure why it was called a 'Bumper Book' rather than an 'Annual', as it's a fairly slim volume with absolutely nothing 'Bumper' about it.  Incidentally, The FRIENDLY SOUL cartoon strips below were drawn (and probably also written) by famed comics historian and collector, the late DENIS GIFFORD.

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KRYPTO's had a colour change - but don't ask me why.  Believe it or not, he was also
  mis-coloured this way in a US DC 80-page Giant reprint mag, so there is a precedent  

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Below is the leaflet included in various issues of Super DC, advertising some of the DC-themed companion Annuals which were available at the same time - and for only 10'6d.  Wow!

SILVER SURFER COVER GALLERY - PART The FOURTH...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

And here we go with the last batch of the original 18 issue run of '60s SILVER SURFER comic covers.  The first five are (I think) by Jaunty JOHN BUSCEMA (though, truth to tell, I have my doubts about #17), and the final one is by Happy HERB TRIMPE, the interior art being by Jolly JACK KIRBY.  Unfortunately, although critically well-received (and fondly remembered), sales were not as expected on the series and issue #18 proved to be the last.

Plans had been afoot to change the direction of the series, making the Surfer much more angry at the injustices meted out to him by the human race and reacting accordingly, but they never materialised.  The Surfer went on to become a founding member of the 'non-team' The DEFENDERS in the '70s, and starred in a one-shot SS issue by JOHN BYRNE in 1982, before being resurrected in his own ongoing title in 1987.  He has also appeared in various graphic novels and limited series over the years, ensuring that we're not bound to forget the star-spanning surfer of the spaceways anytime soon.

He was never better though, than in his original '60s run, so enjoy these cataclysmic covers from when comics were far more entertaining and much better value for money than they are now.  A complete story in a comic (even with continuing sub-plots), as opposed to being spread across seemingly countless issues and different titles where nothing much happens and there are too many 'talking head' shots?  Methinks the comic creators of yesteryear were onto something.

  

ANYONE KNOW THE ANSWER?

Whenever I click on Dougie's SOME FANTASTIC PLACE blog, a message says it's been removed.  Does anyone know what's happened?  Is it merely a temporary malfunction or has Dougie done a runner?

Update: Dougie's blog has reappeared.  I'll keep my eye on it to see if it vanishes into limbo again.

PART THE THIRD OF MICK ANGLO'S PICTORIAL TRIBUTE...

Copyright DC COMICS

And now the remaining covers from my own collection of SUPER DC, a British reprint comic which came out in 1969 or '70.  There's a bit of a mystery as to exactly what year it made its debut, and I suspect that it followed the path of the IPC magazine VULCAN in the mid-'70s.  (For those of you not in the know, Vulcan was first sold in Scotland and wasn't sold nationally until six months later.)

In Super DC's case, I'm unsure in which part of the country it would have appeared first, but I suspect it may have been England initially, then Scotland.  I have two copies of issue #1, and both are of slightly different dimensions.  Also, the indicia typeset does not match (although both are copyrighted 1969), suggesting the possibility of being printed at different times.  The dates on the calendar free gift are 1970/'71, but this could have been an update for a second printing.

Of course, another possibility is that maybe only the first issue was reprinted, to launch it in Scotland and then get rid of previously printed, unsold subsequent editions.  The fact that every issue had the price of one shilling on the cover, even after decimalisation, tends to suggest that they were printed well before distribution - especially as the copyright date of 1969 also appeared on every issue (if memory serves).  This, of course, is all speculation on my part, but it would certainly help explain why there are two different versions of #1.  If anybody has a better suggestion (or, in fact, knows the real reason), feel free to share it here.

Thanks to the generosity of ANDREW KERR, I was able to show you the cover of the fourteenth and final issue, which I didn't have in my collection.  However, I've now managed to acquire the comic for myself, and replaced Andrew's image of the cover with my own.  I'm still looking for a spare copy though, if anyone could bear to part with theirs.  (Update: Now got a spare, meaning I have two sets of all fourteen issues.)

Incidentally, the ad below (featuring WORLD'S FINEST #180) appeared on the back cover of every issue of Super DC.  Exactly how they could colour BATMAN's costume correctly on the front cover, but get it so spectacularly wrong on the back is beyond me.

So, lift your glasses to MICK ANGLO, 'creator' of MARVELMAN, and editor of one of the fondly remembered comics of my boyhood.  Here's to you, Mick.

  

Coming soon: The cover of the one and only ('cos there only ever was one) Super DC Bumper Book.  (Though I've got two of them.)

SILVER SURFER COVER GALLERY - PART THREE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Continuing with our gallery of SILVER SURFER covers, we take up where we left off last time, which was SS #7.  That means we start this little session with #8 through #12, with #13 to #18 still to come in the next post.  Hope you'll join us then, but in the meantime enjoy these five covers by JOHN BUSCEMA.

Although Big John only drew the first seventeen issues in the series, they're clearly superior to the eighteenth and last ish illustrated by JACK KIRBY, which was intended as the first in a new direction for the title.  Clearly, then, even with an artist of Buscema's calibre, sales weren't as good as they could've been, hence the change in approach.  I can only speculate that the Kirby last issue did even worse in sales, hence the reason why the planned 'Savage Silver Surfer' plotline never materialised.  After all, why flog a dead horse and throw good money after bad?

      

More on this in an upcoming post.  Don't miss it!

TERRIFIC COVER GALLERY - PART THREE...

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Here are four more covers from the ODHAMS PRESS publication of the 1960s, the titanically-titled TERRIFIC, plus the back-page pin- ups too.  Lasting only 43 issues before being merged with its POWER PACK stable-mate FANTASTIC, it nevertheless retains its place in the fond memories of dreary old farts like myself. 

More to come in future posts. 

PART TWO OF A PICTORIAL TRIBUTE TO MICK ANGLO...

Copyright DC COMICS

Here are some more covers from my collection of SUPER DC, the TOP SELLERS reprint title from the late '60s, early '70s.  Also shown are the free gifts from issue #1.  Traditionally, British comics had free gifts in the first three issues, but that was usually only with weeklies.  Perhaps because it was a monthly publication, editor MICK ANGLO decided to put all three giveaways in the 1st issue - or it could've been that, individually, they weren't up to much, hence the 'quantity' rather than 'quality' approach.

If anyone has issue #14 of Super DC and wants to make a few quid, then get in touch.  Then I can feature it on a future post.  (Update: Now got it.)

 

With two or three exceptions (where interior panels were enlarged for the purpose), Mick Anglo is believed  to have drawn the covers, using images from various DC sources as reference.  If anyone knows anything different, I'd appreciate you letting me know.

Look out for the third and final part soon.