PART NINE Of FANTASTIC COVER GALLERY...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

And now, from the vaults of history (and a box in my cupboard) comes yet another six sensational, classic covers - plus their back page pin-ups - from that perfect POWER PACK publication from the swingin' '60s - the frighteningly-fearless, fabulous FANTASTIC.  All hail to ALF, BART, and COS, Britain's bombastic stand-ins for STAN, JACK, and, er... IRVING FORBUSH.

Ah, I only have to gaze upon these pulsating pictures by KIRBY, HECK, ROTH, and SMITH to once again (in my mind's eye) be merrily frolicking back in the heady, halcyon days of my childhood, when the world was a better place and I thought I would be a boy forever.  Chances are, you did too - unless you're a girl, that is.

So come with me now - on a journey back to when the world seemed fresh and new, and wonders aplenty were aborning each and every week in the pages of Britain's Brightest Superhero Comic.  There is - there can be - simply no other word for it - it's - FANTASTIC.

  

Don't forget to tune in again for future instalments in this Fantastic series.

SKETCH Of The DAY...

One thing I hope you're not doing is assuming that these lightning-fast sketches rendered with a brush pen are being offered as examples of 'good' comic art.  They're nothing more than mere doodles - but done in ink instead of pencil.  Produced during an idle moment several years ago, they were merely for my own amusement and therefore shouldn't be regarded as reflecting the standard of my finished art.

Anyway, the 'sketch of the day' (as in posted today, but not necessarily drawn today) is a 1960s-looking The INCREDIBLE HULK.  I always preferred the green-skinned goliath as he was drawn in the first five issues of his own magazine by JACK KIRBY.  Consequently, whenever I draw him, there's usually at least a hint of Kirby's version in the result.

 Another 'sketch of the day' coming soon.  (Unless you pay me to stop.)   

FIREBALL XL5 By MIKE NOBLE - PART FOUR...

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Well, things appear to be 'hotting up' for STEVE ZODIAC and his crew - which is ironic given all the snow and ice that surrounds them. Hopefully, all you cavortin' Crivvies are enjoying this fantastic FIREBALL XL5 adventure, this particular episode originally having been published in TV CENTURY 21 #37, cover-dated October 2nd, 2065.

Comics weren't constrained in the way that television was in the 'special effects department' (especially in the '60s), so ALAN FENNELL, the writer, could really let himself go without having to worry about budget restraints.  Whatever he could think of, no matter how fantastic or far-fetched, artist MIKE NOBLE could deliver - and make it look as real and convincing as anything else he was capable of drawing - which seemed to be absolutely everything.

Be sure to read Part Five - just a click away.

MEET The MIGHTY MEGA-MAN (SKETCH Of The DAY)...

Taking a leaf out of DON HUDSON 's excellent blog, ATTACK AT DON! (here), I thought I'd feature the odd 'sketch of the day' from time to time.  I've got a small drawing pad in which I used to practise with a brush pen while having a latte in my local coffee bar - just quick sketches done 'off the cuff '.  They're not finished art by any means, and it's been a good while since I've drawn anything in it, but the handful of doodles contained therein may be of interest to some of you Criv-ites out there.  Remember, they were just lightning-quick attempts to get the hang of using a brush pen for the first time, so please be gentle.

Incidentally, in case you were wondering, 'DUNN KWIK ' is a pen name I use for dashed-off drawings that I regard as somewhat 'loose' - to say the least.  To see brush art as it should be done, why not jump over to Don's blog at the above link?  

'ON The SCENE' - With BATMAN & ROBIN...

Characters copyright respective owners

Back in 1966, the WARREN PUBLISHING COMPANY issued a mag called On The SCENE Presents SUPER HEROES.  It featured articles on BATMAN, The PHANTOM, SUPERMAN, FLASH GORDON ("I'll come quietly officer" - little joke there), CAPTAIN AMERICA, and CAPTAIN MARVEL.  It also had ex-clusive photos of the new BATMAN movie with ADAM WEST and BURT WARD, to boot.

I thought there might be some people out there in Bloggerland who'd be interested in seeing its contents, so - starting now - is the first in an occasional series, beginning with the opening article of the magazine.  Future posts will feature each article in sequence - and who knows?  I may even throw in some of the ad pages - they're worth a look all by themselves.  Click on any image to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.  And don't ever say I'm not good to you.

Click here to read Part Two - The PHANTOM!

THE SID, SLIPPY, AND SHINER LETTERS...

Images copyright REBELLION

Believe it or not, one of the jobs I'm most proud of isn't one that turned out as well as I would've liked.  So let's get the 'excuses' out of the way first, shall we?

It was at the end of the day, I was tired, having been working since about 6.30 in the morning after a nearly nine hour trip down to London.  At this time, IPC's YOUTH GROUP had been relocated (in preparation for its sale to ROBERT MAXWELL) to IRWIN HOUSE, just down the road from KING'S REACH TOWER in Stamford Street.  (Staff still had access to the Tower though, to use the canteen and restaurant.  I spent time there at my desk on the 26th floor when I arrived in the mornings, until Irwin House opened its doors a couple of hours or so later.)

Anyway, it must have been well after 5 p.m. and most people had already left for home when BOB PAYNTER, the group editor of the humour department, came into the room where DOUG CHURCH worked.  Doug was the art editor, and I sometimes worked at the desk alongside his, though he'd finished for the day.  Bob had a couple of pages of artwork he needed lettering and I was only too happy to oblige.  They were the covers for WHIZZER & CHIPS - SID'S SNAKE and SHINER, two old pals from my childhood.

Trouble was, I really was dog-tired, and have to confess that the Sid's Snake page is not as good as I'd have liked.  The Shiner page is better, although someone later repositioned the pal's speech balloon in the second picture (as revealed by the slight wobble in the shape of its outline) to accommodate the jaggy-edged blurb just above it.  (I never did wobbly balloon lines.)  The lettering on the screen was added later - Bob had said it would be typeset (which it wasn't) so I hadn't done it.

However, to actually work on the 'cover star' characters of a comic I had bought and read when it first came out 17 years before (1969) was a real thrill for me (as was lettering SAMMY SHRINK in an earlier issue).  I was in my late-twenties when I lettered these two pages, so that first issue seemed almost a lifetime away, which it practically was.  (I had just turned 27 a few weeks earlier, so it was more than half my lifetime away - in fact, very nearly two-thirds.)

So, not my best work by any means, but still two pages I'm inordinately proud to be associated with.  That's why I thought I'd share them with you here.  Hope you like 'em, fellow Criv-ites.

THE END OF THE WORLD...

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Not counting paid jobs I'd done since still at school, my very first 'big-time' professional freelance lettering job was for IPC MAGAZINES in 2000 A.D. - a strip called 'EXTRA! EXTRA!', which appeared in Prog 407, cover-dated March 2nd, 1985.  (It wasn't my first published IPC job however - that was a CAPTAIN KID - The PINT-SIZED PIRATE page in WHIZZER & CHIPS, which I lettered one night in the 2000 A.D. office before going home to my bedsit in Fratton, Portsmouth.)

The story was written by PETE MILLIGAN and the art drawn by the late JOSE CASANOVAS, who sadly died in 2009.  To be honest, I'm surprised it turned out as well as it did.  I didn't have the right 'patch-paper' so the lettering came out a little scratchy-looking and was also a tad too large.  I remember STEVE MacMANUS being quite pleased with it though, especially the newspaper headlines.

And thus began my full-time, fifteen year career working for the 'big boys' - not only IPC but also MARVEL COMICS (the British and American divisions).  Anyway, I thought that some of you might enjoy seeing where it all began.  (Is it just me, or does anyone else think that Casanovas' art is slightly reminiscent of RON TURNER's?)

   

I'd like to think that I improved over the coming months once I 'found' my style, but, all in all, it wasn't too bad a beginning for someone starting out in the world of comics.  Technology can be a wonderful thing, but I can't help but feel that some of the art has gone from lettering now that anyone with a keyboard and access to computer fonts can do what once used to lie only within the province of calligraphic artists.

     

DOCTOR TALBOT, I PRESUME...

  

For all you 2000 A.D. fans out there, NEMESIS THE WARLOCK artist BRYAN TALBOT was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters for his body of work by Northumbria University at their annual degree ceremony in Newcastle.  He is already an Honorary Doctor of Arts, having received the accolade four years ago from Sunderland University, making him the first British comics creator to be awarded twice.

Honorary Doctorate of LETTERS?  Hey, where's my award?

PART THREE Of MIKE NOBLE'S FIREBALL XL5...

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As far as I'm aware, ZOONY The LAZOON never appeared in TV CENTURY 21's FIREBALL XL5 strip in the 1960s.  (Unless he discreetly popped his furry head up in the background somewhere without any readers noticing.)  Perhaps writer and editor ALAN FENNELL considered the character far too preposterous for an action-adventure story if it was to be 'believable' - or maybe artist MIKE NOBLE didn't like drawing him (or both), but whatever the reason, the zany lazoon seemed to be permanently absent from the WORLD SPACE PATROL's interplanetary exploits. 

Which was probably a good thing, because - let's be honest - whenever Zoony appeared on the TV show, his constant whining of "Welcome home" became rather grating after a while.  The lazoon was obviously meant to provide a touch of comedy, but such shenanigans would only have slowed down the pace in the comic's two-pages of adventure.  Besides, Zoony had a starring role his own cartoon strip in TV21 and that was probably more than enough for him.

Anyway, if you're not a fan of VENUS's little pet, you won't find him lurking anywhere in the above adventure (from TV Century 21 #36, cover-dated September 25th, 2065), so thrill to the crew of XL5's perilous predicament and ponder just how they're going to extricate themselves from it.  And feel free to leave a comment saying just how much you enjoyed it.

For Part Four, click here.

HOPE SPRINGS 'ETERNO'...

Copyright REBELLION

Almost exactly 40 years ago, Crivs, I purchased LION & THUNDER HOLIDAY SPECIAL for 1972.  Unfortunately, I didn't have it for very long before a relative relieved me of its ownership by devious means.  I may only have had it for a day, in fact (two or three at the most) before it passed out of my hands, seemingly never to be seen again.  I don't think I even got to read it properly before it met its fate.  (For the details behind this tale, click here.)

Because of this, it never had much chance to make any great impression on me (which suggests it may have been bought the same day we parted company), so over the years its predecessor from 1971 was the one I remembered, the cover being instantly familiar to me whenever I espied it in some comics catalogue or Internet site.  I therefore sometimes pondered whether it was the '71 Special which had been swindled from me by my unscrupulous kinfolk.  (You'll know what I'm talking about if you've read the above link.)

However, on reflection that seemed unlikely.  For a start, it's doubtful whether I still had it at the time in question.  Secondly, I'm pretty sure that the comic 'stolen' from me was purchased after I had acquired the THUNDER ANNUAL for 1972, bought in December of '71.  (For that tale, click here.)  I also remember trying to keep the comic 'good' because it was new.  Therefore, by means of level-headed logic and analytical acumen (unless my memory is playing tricks on me), the '72 Holiday Special must have been the dimly-remembered comic from my past.

Anyway, not long after relating the story on this very blog, I saw it on eBay and made a bid for it - and won.  It's strange (but rewarding) to see it again, because I don't remember much about it apart from the cover.  One pic jumps out at me though - an illustration from a SPELLBINDER text story, which seems to confirm that this was indeed the very comic lost to me all those years ago.

To celebrate being reunited with my long-lost 'pal' from yesteryear, I've decided to share some of its pages, so that you too can rejoice in this special occasion.  Let's hope I've got at least another 40 years in front of me, in order to make up for our long separation.  It's always good to welcome back an old friend; now all I need do is track down the '71 and '73 Specials and I'll have a full set*.

*Update: Now done!

(Click on images to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.)

The RETURN Of TV COMIC...

Characters copyright relevant owner

As most comics enthusiasts of a 'certain age' will know, the real TV COMIC shuffled off this mortal coil with issue #1697, cover-dated June 29th 1984 after a span of nearly 34 years.  Apart from an annual and two holiday specials, that was the last that was seen of it.  It was mourned by former readers who had enjoyed the publication as children, and then took its place in the hallowed halls of memory.

Ten years passed.  Then, one day, on the newsagents' shelves, appeared - what's this?  Could it possibly be?  TV COMIC - The WOMBLES SUMMER SPECIAL, including The SHOE PEOPLE, HUXLEY PIG and NELLIE The ELEPHANT.  Published by NEWSSTAND PUBLICATIONS (nope, I've never heard of them either) in 1994, future issues were promised, but if they ever appeared I never saw them.

This new TV Comic was aimed at a much younger readership than its illustrious predecessor - more of a nursery comic in fact.  (Though, interestingly, when the title was first launched back in the '50s, it too was aimed more at toddlers.)  With an average of four panels per page, the strips had no speech balloons, instead having a block of text under each panel, just like comics of the '20s and '30s, or the RUPERT BEAR strip in The DAILY EXPRESS.

It's hardly surprising that it was so short-lived.  It could never have matched the popularity of the original, the genuine, the only - TV COMIC.

******

To read about the original TV Comic, click here - and here. 

BATTLE ACTION GRUDGE...

Copyright REBELLION

Surprising as it may seem, some people don't know - or appreciate - the difference between typeset lettering and hand-lettered dialogue balloons (or captions) in a comic.  "What difference does it make?" they ask in a puzzled manner.  Of course, these people are as thick as the proverbial brick and I'm sure all you 'Crivvies' could tell them the answer just as well as I could, if not better.

However, there's no need to tell them when I can show them.  Back in the 1970s, there was a period when IPC MAGAZINES resorted to typeset lettering for all their publications, the result of a dispute (so legend has it) with the letterers they usually employed.  DCT had used typeset lettering for years of course, and more or less did it pretty adequately.  IPC's attempts were disastrous on the other hand, and the appearance of many a strip was ruined in my humble opinion.  (For which I'm justly famous, I might add.)

Years later, when these strips came up for reprinting, they had to be re-lettered by hand to bring them up to an acceptable standard and allow them to fit in with the new material they sat alongside.  One such story is the one featured in this post, 'THE GRUDGE', which first appeared in BATTLE #196, cover-dated December 2nd, 1978, and resurfaced twelve years later in BATTLE ACTION FORCE (un-numbered), cover-dated December 14th, 1985.

This is one I lettered myself, and more was required that just placing new lettering over old.  There's a fair amount of 'blotting out' and 'drawing up' to be done, so that old balloon tails or odd edges don't protrude out from under the new and improved speech bubbles and captions.  Anyway, I'll let you judge for yourselves just how good a job I did - right after you've read the story.  Ready?  Off you go then, and remember you have a choice.  The original pages are on the left, the re-lettered versions are on the right of them.



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