The (SECOND) COMING Of CONAN!

Copyright MARVEL COMICS and CPI

Most people will be aware that, when MARVEL decided to launch their CONAN The BARBARIAN four-colour comicbook back in 1970, Big JOHN BUSCEMA was first choice as artist to illustrate the swarthy Cimmerian's action-packed adventures.  Only one problem with that however - too expensive.  There was a severely limited budget for the comic and writer ROY THOMAS was already paying more than Marvel's publisher MARTIN GOODMAN had authorised for the rights to use ROBERT E. HOWARD's sword and sorcery swashbuckler.

Well, the rest is history.  The less-expensive BARRY SMITH (later WINDSOR-Smith) was assigned the task of bringing Conan's comicbook career to life, which he did with verve and vitality as befitting the bold barbarian's bombastic and bloodthirsty battles.  As we're well aware, John Buscema eventually did become the series' regular artist (drawing more issues than anyone else), but what might that first adventure have looked like had he pencilled the premiere issue as originally planned?

Fortunately, such a possibility isn't merely confined to the realms of speculation as, in 1994 - nearly half a century after Conan's debut issue - Big John finally brought his artistic magic to that '70s tale from Conan The Barbarian #1.  Personally speaking, I'd have preferred to see the story drawn with a more traditional grid-layout without the page-bleeds, and in colour as opposed to black and white.  The last panel in particular cries out for colour - or even some kind of shading to indicate the moon against the night sky, as described in one of the captions.  As it is, it's short on some sorely-needed atmosphere and lacks the impact of Smith's earlier version.

However, despite being robbed of the opportunity to compare 'like-with-like' in the strictest sense, it's fascinating to see Big J's take on Thomas's titanic tale, although it would have been even better had JOE SINNOTT or TOM PALMER performed the inking chores.  Perhaps one day they'll reprint it in colour and give readers a better idea of what could have been had "the Michelangelo of comics" (as Smilin' STAN 'The Man' LEE dubbed him) drawn the Hyborian hero's dynamic debut all those years ago.

Anyway, enjoy "The COMING Of CONAN!" from the June '94 issue of The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian #222.  Take a look at Conan's first appearance here - then come back and say which visual version of the tale you prefer - and why.

(The two pages below should be read as a double-page spread.)

(Like below.  Click to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.)

IT'S A THRILLER - THREE, IN FACT...

Copyright relevant owner

You're looking at the covers of facsimile editions of the first three issues of THRILLER COMICS from the 1950s.  I used to own the IPC/FLEETWAY file copies, gifted to me by an editor in the mid-'80s, but I sold them around 20 years later.  (Got a good price for them too, even though they'd my name stamped on the back.)

Thing is, I missed having them around, so I acquired these facsimiles from the successor to BRYON WHITWORTH's little publishing 'empire' several years back.  (Bryon was the editor of the now sadly defunct The ILLUSTRATED COMIC JOURNAL and various non-profit comics indices and facsimile issues.)

Thriller Comics was published by The AMALGAMATED PRESS in 1951, but with issue # 41 the title was renamed THRILLER COMICS LIBRARY.  This lasted until #162, whereupon, with #s 163-450 (the final issue in the series), it changed its name yet again - to THRILLER PICTURE LIBRARY.  The title ceased publication in 1963.

  

Anyway, thought you'd like to see the covers of these historical publications  - so enjoy.

WHAM! - A POWER PACK ANNUAL...

Copyright relevant owner

Here's a tasty treat from the past - some select pages from the WHAM! Annual for 1967 (issued near the end of '66) - including a lovely three-page colour strip of FRANKIE STEIN, by the irrepressible KEN REID of FUDGE The ELF and FACEACHE fame.  Strangely enough, although POW! Annuals featured reprinted MARVEL stories, the Wham! and SMASH! volumes didn't - relying instead on home-grown humour and asventure strips.

Take a look at the first picture on the third tier of the above page - I believe that's ROBERT BARTHOLOMEW (otherwise generally known as BART - though perhaps it's ALBERT COSSER) who was the editor of Wham!.  It really is a good likeness, regardless of which of the two gentlemen it is.  How do I know?  I occasionally saw this him around the hallways of KING'S REACH TOWER when I was down in London, and MARC JUNG (sub-editor of BUSTER) identified him (as either Bart or Cos, can't quite remember).  Imagine my surprise when, a few years ago, I was leafing through some old letters and found one from the late-'70s from LOOK & LEARN (in response to an enquiry of mine), signed by 'Robert Bartholomew', the editor.  It hadn't clicked with me at the time, but just think - I had the autograph of an editor from one of the favourite comics of my youth and didn't even know it!

   

BIFF (below) later turned up in THUNDER as SAM, a fact which LEO BAXENDALE wouldn't have been happy about as he wasn't paid for the re-use of the ones he'd drawn.  It was his annoyance at this that later caused him to quit U.K. comics altogether.  The irony is, had publishers not defrayed the cost of a weekly title by reprinting a limited number of old strips, they might not have been able to publish the comic to begin with - or continue with it if circulation started to fall.  Result - less work to go around for jobbing cartoonists. (Or vastly reduced page-rates for everyone.)  Catch 22?

   

And now - the one you're all waiting for - FRANKIE STEIN by Ken Reid - in colour.  Who says this blog doesn't deliver the goods, eh?  Given the rather abrupt way the tale ends, I can't help but feel it's a page short.  When I first read it, I turned over the last page expecting it to continue on the following one - but nope, that's all there was.  Ken's pages towards the end of his career lacked the vitality and spontaneity of his earlier work, being somewhat stiff and stilted - but here we have him at his absolute best, so be sure to savour every brushstroke and penline.

  

I'd love to see all of Ken's Frankie Stein strips coloured-up and released in a deluxe format book.  Why someone hasn't yet done it is beyond me.  STEVE HOLLAND (of BEAR ALLEY BOOKS) would be the man for the job - if he thought there was an audience for it.  You'd think there would be, eh?

******

Like to see more from the 1967 Wham! Annual? Well, don't be shy - say so in the comments section.

BOND, BROSNAN, BOOKS And ROUNDABOUTS...

Dust-jacket design by Stefan Dreja

I once borrowed a book from my local central library, and - against a multi-coloured panoply of flowers in a sunken roundabout - sat reading it as a glorious mid-'70s hot summer sun shone down upon me.  The book was JAMES BOND In The CINEMA by JOHN BROSNAN, and a year or two later, I was able to obtain my very own copy from GRANT'S BOOKSHOP just outside Glasgow's Central Station.

Sean Connery as James Bond

The book was published in 1972 and covers the first seven movies in the series, DR. NO to DIAMONDS Are FOREVER.  It's an extremely entertaining and engrossing read, capturing the mood of the films perfectly, although there are a few minor discrepancies in the description of events.  However, Brosnan originally hailed from Australia, where Bond movies were heavily edited in line with the country's strict censorship laws, so that no doubt accounts for some of the occasional and inconsequential (relatively speaking, of course) inaccuracies in matters of detail.

Before the age of videos and DVDs in which a viewer can watch and freeze-frame a movie at his leisure and to his heart's content, the only way to 'relive' a film was to go and see it again at the cinema (this was before the Bond back-catalogue had been sold to TV), buy the soundtrack LP - or to immerse oneself in the pages of a book such as this devoted to the subject.  Brosnan's book is lavishly illustrated with over one hundred stills, virtually all supplied by UNITED ARTISTS themselves.

Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore

I was so impressed by this book that I bought another copy several years later direct from the publishers, The TANTIVY PRESS.  Now I have a pristine copy, plus my well-thumbed original which I can delve into whenever the fancy takes me.  And, whenever I do, I'm right back in the darkened gloom of my local cinema (middle seat, back row) on a Saturday afternoon in the early '70s - where I was fortunate enough to see all six of SEAN CONNERY's 'official' EON Bond blockbusters on the largest screen in Scotland in the first purpose-built cinema in the U.K. since the second world war.

  

Or I'm back in that sunken roundabout on a glorious sunny day a few years later, reading the book for the very first time.  Little did I know then (how could I?) that ten or so years afterwards, I'd be lettering some of the same author's NIGHT ZERO/BEYOND ZERO scripts (illustrated by artist KEVIN HOPGOOD) for 2000 A.D.  I never got to meet John Brosnan or to talk to him, but I remember asking editor ALAN McKENZIE to tell him how much I'd enjoyed his book and some of his movie reviews in DEZ SKINN's STARBURST magazine.

Back of dust-jacket

Sadly, although that sunken roundabout still exists, the flowers and the wooden bench (one of several) I sat upon are gone, and the roundabout itself is in a dilapidated condition.  However, my memories of that day are as sharp and as clear as they ever were, and - should they ever be in danger of fading (like the colours of those long-vanished blooms) - John Brosnan's superb book is only an arm's reach away.

The roundabout (where I first read the book) in its glory days

IT'S OFFICIAL - I'M A MENACE AND AN OUTLAW...

Probably the funniest children's books ever written are the WILLIAM books by RICHMAL CROMPTON.  They're certainly amongst the funniest, in my humble opinion.  I started reading them when I was around 11 or 12 years old - and, in my youthful ignorance, I assumed that 'Richmal' was a man's name.  I've since found out over the years that I wasn't alone in that assumption and that many readers shared it.  It wasn't until I was an older teenager that I discovered - much to my surprise - that the adventures of the irrepressible William Brown and his Outlaws were penned by a WOMAN.  "A woman, by gad, sir!  How is such a thing possible?  Surely it defies the very laws of nature!"

I'm joking, but it was remarkable for a woman with no children to display such an astute understanding of the psychology of a male child's mind and to convey it with such accuracy or realism.  Although fictitious, William Brown was in every way a real boy.  (As were his three companions, DOUGLAS, HENRY and GINGER.)  Everything about him rang true, and I couldn't have been the only reader to finish a tale with the impression that I'd just been reading about myself.  No male writer better understood the inner workings of an 11 year old boy's brain or demonstrated a keener insight than Crompton.

If I remember correctly, without referring to my copy of MARY CADOGAN's biograpy on the author (The WOMAN BEHIND WILLIAM: A LIFE Of RICHMAL CROMPTON), William was based on Richmal's nephew Tommy, who by all accounts was William to a tee.  In common with other authors who are associated with one particular character, Richmal became frustrated that her other works did not enjoy the same level of success as her 39 William books.  Sir ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE and EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS are but two of the writers who knew only too well the situation that Richmal found herself in.

Interestingly, due to the 'common' way in which William spoke and dressed (as depicted in the illustrations of THOMAS HENRY FISHER and, later, HENRY FORD) - and despite being at odds with the text - I long-laboured under the delusion that William was a 'working-class' boy, unlike ANTHONY BUCKERIDGE's public schoolboy JENNINGS, who hailed from upper-class stock.  It wasn't until I later re-read the books, that I realized from mention of maids, cooks and gardeners (and father's job in 'the city') that William also hailed from privileged circumstances, though perhaps not quite in Jennings' 'class'.

Anyway, if you're looking for a good laugh and want to recapture some of the carefree innocence of your childhood, you could do far worse than pick up one of Richmal Crompton's William books.  The earliest ones were actually written more for adults than for children, so don't be embarrassed - just head straight into your nearest bookshop and ask for - JUST WILLIAM.

******

(As for the title of this post - many years ago I became a member of the DENNIS The MENACE FAN CLUB and WILLIAM BROWN'S OUTLAW CLUB - so it's all true.  Incidentally, LEO BAXENDALE based DANNY from the BASH STREET KIDS on Thomas Henry's drawings of William.  See?  Tied that in nicely with comics, didn't I?) 

QUICK, JIMMY - FOLLOW THAT CARR...

So... British comedian JIMMY CARR has got himself in a right ol' kerfuffle, hasn't he?  Let's be honest though - if any of us were lucky enough to earn the same kind of 'wedge' that he can pull in, then maybe we'd have the same little Jersey tax scheme going on as he did.  After all, it's legal, isn't it?  Trouble is, by indulging in the same kind of practice that he routinely slated bankers and big businesses for, he lost his credibility along with the moral high-ground - even though his worst 'crime' seems to have been in listening to some over-eager financial advisor without fully considering the implications and repercussions.

However, for Prime minister DAVID CAMERON (member of an elite group infamous for indulging in all manner of questionable activities when it comes to screwing as much money out of the system as possible) to publicly accuse young Jimmy of "immoral" behaviour is as immense in its impertinence as it is in its hypocrisy.  For politicians with wealth beyond what most of us can only dream of (and who claim expenses for second houses or duck moats along with generous food allowances and attendance fees over and above their ludicrously hefty salaries) to pontificate on what is 'moral' for the rest of society while indulging in highly dubious (if legal) financial shenanigans themselves, well - it's a bit of a cheek to say the least.

David Cameron said that he would look into pop-pal GARY BARLOW's involvement in a similar tax-avoidance scheme before making a statement, but is now furiously backpedalling and refusing to comment.  After all, ol' Gary's a supporter of the Tory Party, isn't he?  So it wouldn't do to tread on his toes.  Meanwhile, big businesses avoid paying billions in taxes every year while the government looks the other way and does nothing.  Seems that they only have something to say when it comes to the little guy, eh?  At least Carr has apologised - not something you ever see a politician doing for far worse offences.

I'm not partisan; one political group is as bad as another in my book, but with his latest foot-in-mouth incident, Cameron has done nothing more than remind us all of who the real ruddy comedians are.

Trouble is, we're not laughing.      

DOCTOR, I'M A LITTLE WEEKLY...

Dr. WHO & related images copyright BBC TV

DOCTOR WHO has appeared in comic-strip format from practically his earliest days. First in Polystyle Publication's TV COMIC, then in COUNTDOWN, followed by TV ACTION (when the former changed its name), and then back to TV COMIC. However, in 1979, under the helm of editor DEZ SKINN, the time-travelling titan was awarded his very own British MARVEL magazine in the shape of (unsurprisingly) Doctor Who Weekly.

The first issue was cover-dated October 17th (meaning it would've come out the week before) and lasted in its weekly format until issue #44, when it then became a monthly. Essentially a children's adventure comic originally, with the change to monthly publication it gradually became more of a geeky, anorak-type title aimed primarily at diehard fanatics.  (Does anyone really need to know that the un-credited 'extra', third from the left in the background of a scene in UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS was also on view for all of two seconds in a 1976 episode of Doctor Who?  Some people can't survive without such information, apparently.)

As well as original strips, the comic also featured reprints of various U.S. Marvel stories (from their mystery, suspense and Marvel Classics titles) with a TALES From The TARDIS logo and illustration of TOM BAKER pasted onto the splash page of each tale. So, here's a select few pages from that premiere issue from all those years ago. Apparently, the magazine is now listed in the GUINNESS BOOK Of RECORDS for being the longest-running TV tie-in publication in the history of everything.  What can I say?  Timeless.  

One more thing: Back then I had no way of knowing that, nearly 25 years later, I would be a freelance contributor to several issues of the mag - at least one of which reprinted a back-page DALEKS strip from TV CENTURY 21.  It gave me a strange sense of connection with my childhood days to see a page I'd read as a kid presented alongside contemporary work that bore my name.  A very TWILIGHT ZONE-ish moment indeed. 

Click on image to enlarge, click again for optimum size.