SANTA AND THE SUPER SEVEN - WOTTA KNOCKOUT!

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I make no apologies for posting this classic Christmas cover yet again (having done so about two or three times before), because it epitomises everything that was once good about the British comics industry (when we had one) and British Annuals in particular.  As most people will know, Annuals usually went on sale around August or September, so that pesky kids could pester their parents about which one (or maybe even ones) they wanted to find in their Christmas stockings on the 25th.

As Annuals were published for the following year (for example, 1973 Annuals went on sale in 1972), not all of them featured Yuletide-themed covers. Perhaps it was thought that doing so relegated them far too quickly to 'last year's present' in the minds of kids, but it could also have a more positive aspect.  To an Aunt and Uncle struggling to think of a prezzie for 'wee Jimmy', a Christmassy-covered Annual would be sure to recommend itself as a distinct possibility. However, regardless of the whys and wherefores, KNOCKOUT Annual 1973 is as Festive a cover as anyone could wish for.

So... here it is again. (MIKE BROWN was responsible for the art chores, if I remember correctly.)

TAKE A PEEP At POW! - The CHRISTMAS ISSUE...

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Another of the 'big five' (as I l call 'em) POWER COMICS was POW!, companion paper to WHAM!, SMASH!, FANTASTIC and TERRIFIC.  As well as a mix of British strips, Pow! featured reprints of SPIDER-MAN and NICK FURY, later also publishing The FANTASTIC FOUR once Wham! had been merged with it. Pow! was probably the weakest of the Power Comics, but it still had things to recommend it to the reader intent on seeking out a nice selection of humour and adventure strips. Above is the Christmas issue from 1967.

The back page is DARE-A-DAY DAVY, another surreal KEN REID strip, where readers were invited to write in and dare Davy to do something.  Those chosen had the delight in seeing their suggestion brought to life in the typical madcap Reid manner and also win a pound into the bargain.  What more could a child want out of life?  One tale was deemed so horrific that it wasn't printed, only showing up, I believe, in a fanzine article a number of years after Pow!'s demise.  As it was pulled at the editing stage, it was never properly lettered, but that's something I may put right when I have the time.  Remind me to show it to you one day.  In the meantime, click on the image to enlarge and enjoy Ken Reid's anarchic lunacy at its finest.

WHAM! AT CHRISTMAS - THE COMIC, NOT THE BOYBAND...

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WHAM! comic was meant to be ODHAMS PRESS and LEO BAXENDALE's answer to The BEANO.  Unfortunately, they must have misheard the question, because the former only lasted about 3 and a half years, whereas the latter is still going strong (relatively speaking) over 70 years later.  One can't help but wonder if Wham! would have survived for longer had it been printed on cheaper paper and similarly priced to The Beano.

I guess we'll never know, alas, but in its day it was a very fine comic indeed - and though I didn't start buying it 'til it had discarded its photogravure printing, I now have quite a few of those early issues in my collection.  One such is the Christmas number above from 1965 (it was a very good year), and I thought I'd share it with all you lucky peeps out there in Blogger land.

One of the most (if not the most) popular strips in Wham! was one created not by Leo Baxendale, surprisingly, but by KEN REID, the original artist of ROGER The DODGER in the aforementioned Beano.  The strip in question was FRANKIE STEIN, who was so popular that he survived Wham!'s demise in early 1968, being resurrected in SHIVER & SHAKE and MONSTER FUN COMIC in the early and mid-'70s.  He also starred in his own series of  eight Holiday Specials and two softcover Annuals.

ROBERT NIXON did most of the art chores in Frankie's later incarnation, but to those of us who were familiar with Reid's earlier treatment of the character - good as it was to see ol' Frankie back - the new strips never quite matched the absurd shenanigans of the originals.  So, presented above, for your reading pleasure, the Frankie Stein strip from the 1965 Christmas edition of the late, lamented Wham!  They sure don't make comics like that anymore (unfortunately).

HAVING A SMASH-ING CHRISTMAS...

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When SMASH! was revamped and relaunched by IPC in March of 1969, it bore very little resemblance to its previous ODHAMS incarnation.  A few strips survived, but, without the various MARVEL reprints, the comic had lost a great deal of its uniqueness.  (Well, as unique as a companion paper to WHAM! could be.)  Which is not to suggest by any means that the newer version of the comic was bereft of charm, but it was a different type of charm to what had gone before.  Above is the cover to the first Christmas issue of the new Smash!, which, contrary to what I've just written, manages to conjure up similarities to the earlier look of the title - only the different logo betrays the cheat.

Above (from the Christmas ish) is BAD PENNY by LEO BAXENDALE, which I always preferred to his similarly-themed strip, MINNIE The MINX in The BEANO.  Minnie came first, but Bax's art had evolved into a seemingly simpler, but much more madcap and funnier style by the time he got 'round to drawing Penny. Give me Penny over Minnie any day of the week.  Bax created some good strips for Wham! & Smash! - but it's interesting to note that he never initiated legal proceedings against IPC over copyright like he did with Thomson's.  It's true that the Odhams/IPC/Fleetway characters never had the longevity or success of his DCT ones, but surely the principle of the matter supersedes any material considerations?

THUNDER AT CHRISTMAS...

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Back around December 19th 1970, the first and only Christmas number of THUNDER went on sale.  Although the cover is devoted to a Christmas theme, the effect is somewhat lacklustre due to the absence of the traditional snow-bedecked masthead that usually graced comics at this time of year.  The Thunder logo is actually well done, but it was never utilised properly in early issues - often being too small in relation to the rest of the cover to make its presence felt in the way that it should have.  In this particular cover's case, it would've benefitted hugely from the application of some snow.  Just what was the editor thinking?

I didn't realize it at the time, but SAM was a reprint from WHAM! comic, wherein he was originally entitled BIFF.  As an avid reader of Wham! when it had The FANTASTIC FOUR, Biff never made much of an impression on me - which is surprising, considering that he was drawn by the legendary LEO BAXENDALE.  Not really one of Leo's better efforts, in retrospect.  The character never made much of an impression on me as Sam, either.

As comics usually went on sale a week before the cover date to give them a full seven days' shelf life, this one would seem to have appeared on Boxing Day.  Unlikely, I know - so no doubt it came out a little earlier than usual.  The same must apply to the subsequent issue, as I can't see it having come out on Ne'erday - especially not up in Scotland, where most folks would still be recuperating from the day before.  (Nothing like a bit of stereotyping, eh?  Does that make me a racist - even though I'm Scottish?)  Again, one would think the cover would sport a Seasonal theme, but not a hint of it.  It makes me wonder if Thunder was rush-released to compete with a new D.C. THOMSON title, hence it sometimes seeming to be a bit 'makeshift'.  Had IPC perhaps been caught on the hop?

And here's Biff/Sam again, although he could also be closely related to DANNY DARE, another Baxendale strip from Wham!  When Bax moved to ODHAMS PRESS from DCT, apparently his page rate was doubled.  As the above page has only about half the number of panels as a typical BEANO or DANDY page from the same period, that amounts to his earnings being quadrupled in real terms.  Lucky Bax - if only Wham! had lasted longer. 

See also here - and here.

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

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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.