JOHN CARTER - WARLORD Of MARS...

Copyright DC COMICS and the Estate of EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS

I haven't seen the new JOHN CARTER movie yet - don't know if I'll bother.  I've read some good reviews and some bad ones, so I'm as yet undecided on how to spend my hard-earned dosh in the cinema stakes.  If you're in the same boat, here's a sort of' 'trailer' for it - from way back in 1972.  Perhaps it'll help you make up your mind.

 

And below is the cover of the comic from which came the story you've just read and hopefully enjoyed.  Reached a decision yet?

CONAN CLASSIC...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS and CPI

Now, for all you frantic fearsome fans of sword and sorcery author ROBERT E. HOWARD's Cimmerian hero, you're in for a special treat.  Here's the young CONAN The BARBARIAN in his very first MARVEL COMICS outing - originally from CTB #1 and reprinted in the first of an eleven-issue series of CONAN CLASSIC.  Written by ROY (The BOY) THOMAS and drawn by BARRY (WINDSOR) SMITH.  Enjoy - and feel free to leave a comment you-know-where.

And if you'd like to see Big JOHN BUSCEMA's much later version of the same tale, then click here to be transported straight to it.

"TIME, GENTLEMEN, PLEASE..."

Dr. WHO copyright BBC TV

When I was a mere lad back in the 1960s, my brother one day acquired from somewhere the very first paperback adventure of Dr. WHO - in an exciting adventure with The DALEKS no less.  The grim and moody illustration of WILLIAM HARTNELL's Doctor looking out at the reader from the cover transfixed me - and set the pattern for how I think the character should be portrayed.  To me, The Doctor should be an enigmatic, mysterious figure that nobody is quite sure of.  Is he good or bad?  Where does he come from?  Who is he?  I rue the day when the powers that be at the BBC decided he should be a babbling idiot who looks like he's having heaps of fun in whatever adventure he currently happens to be explaining aloud as he runs from one darkened corridor into another.

The paperback contains 6 illustrations

A few years ago, I managed to obtain a replacement for the 1965 ARMADA paperback I'd owned as a kid.  Due to insufficient packaging it was severely damaged in the post, which meant I had to completely re-glue the spine and repair the cover. (Don't worry - the spine work is virtually undetectable.  You'd never know unless I told you - which I just did.)  I could have returned it, but these books tend not to turn up too often so I decided to hold onto it in case I never got the chance of one again.  It's enough for me that the mood of the cover is intact and that one glance is enough to return me to an earlier time.  (Rather apt, considering we're discussing Dr. Who.)

The hardback contains 12 illustrations

The hardback was first published by FREDERICK MULLER in 1964, but it's the paperback edition issued the following year that, to me, is the definitive edition - cover-wise at least.  When TARGET reprinted the paperback in the '70s, they ignored the interior illustrations by PETER ARCHER from the Armada edition and instead opted for the original ARNOLD SCHWARTZMAN ones from the Frederick Muller hardback.  As far as I know, this 'exciting adventure' is still available from BBC BOOKS.  It's well-worth reading.

(Update: I later managed to obtain an undamaged copy of the Armada paperback, but retained the other one.  [Yes, Melvin, that means I now have two of them.)  The scans of its covers in this post are from the undamaged book.) 

The AMAZING WORLD Of DOCTOR WHO...

Copyright BBC TV and the Estate of TERRY NATION

Back in the dim and distant days of September 1976, I contacted WORLD DISTRIBUTORS to enquire about the possibility of obtaining a DALEK ANNUAL they'd published the previous year.  They replied in the affirmative and, after sending the requisite payment, the sought-after book, when it eventually arrived, was accompanied by a free copy of The AMAZING WORLD Of DOCTOR WHO, containing reprints of some Dalek strips from the back of TV CENTURY 21.  (You know the old saying - never look a gift-Dalek in the mouth - so I didn't.)

The World Distributor Dalek reprints were reproduced from the original artwork (which was revised to cover the title and 'stop press' panels on each page), unlike some later reprintings which were merely scanned from issues of TV21.  So without any further ado, enjoy an exciting adventure with The Daleks - the cheeky little rascals.

Incidentally, the first three pages are illustrated by RICHARD JENNINGS and the last two are by RON TURNER.

And below, the actual letters I received from World Distributors way back when. (Click on to enlarge, then click again.)

ZOONY'S DIARY...

Copyright relevant owner

Following on from the recent FIREBALL XL5 strips and direct from the TV CENTURY 21 ANNUAL for 1966, comes ZOONY'S DIARY - for no other reason than that I find it highly amusing.  Go on - give it a read and enjoy a good chuckle or three.

And let's not forget the cover and the fantastic RON EMBLETON illustration which adorns it.

STEVE ZODIAC - "TRAIL Of The TRAITOR"...

Copyright relevant owner

As promised, Crivs, here's the second FIREBALL XL5 story from the 1964 GOLD KEY one-shot comic, based on GERRY ANDERSON's very first television series to be set in the 21st century.  (SUPERCAR had been set in what was then present day.)  Some of the shots of Fireball are a little suspect, but the artist may have been working from sparse reference material so let's not hold it against him.  The art may not measure up against MIKE NOBLE's beautifully illustrated XL5 tales from TV CENTURY 21, but it's a nice little collectors' item for all those who wish they were a spaceman. And now you can read it for yourselves, you lucky peeps.  Click here to see Steve's encounter with The MOON MASTERS!

And let's not forget the back-page pin-up for all you completists.