THE FIRST JUDGE DREDD...

Images copyright REBELLION PUBLISHING

As a pre-Hallowe'en treat, here's the first published (but not the first produced) episode of JUDGE DREDD from 2000 A.D. #2 in 1977.  (JD had appeared in number 1, but only in an ad for the next issue.)  Note how Dredd was somewhat scrawny (if not downright puny) in this early version, and not quite as imposing as he would later become.  Makes me wonder if the citizens of MEGA-CITY ONE made comments to themselves about cops looking younger and younger.  This story was written by PETE HARRIS & PAT MILLS (who extensively rewrote Harris's original submission) and drawn by MIKE McMAHON.  Dredd was created by JOHN WAGNER and CARLOS EZQUERRA (who designed the look of the character), with input from Mills as to how the strip should be developed.

Anyway, enjoy ol' Dreddy's first appearance - 'cos he is the law!

PART TWO OF THE THING FROM THE SWAMP...

Images copyright DC COMICS

PSSSTT!!  Wanna see some pretty pictures?  Then you're in luck, 'cos here are six li'l beauties to feast your peepers on.  This was the second series to feature ol' SWAMPY, published way back in the early '80s when BRUCE FORSYTH was merely old, but not yet ancient.  (Word is, Brucie was on board the Ark, but when asked whether this was true or not, family friend and spokesman, NOAH JUNIOR, refused to comment.) 

Anyway, enjoy these half-dozen dazzling drawings by TOM YEATES, which evoke the spirit of BERNIE WRIGHTSON without being a slavish imitation of his style. And feel free to express your opinion on these covers in the comments section, if you so wish.

GREAT COVER - SHAME ABOUT THE INSIDES...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

When Marvel 'officially' established itself in the U.K. with The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL in 1972, they had a good-looking product on their hands that readers responded to.  40 pages, 6 of them in full-colour, the remainder in spot-colour and/or Zipatone (as it was called in America, Letratone in Britain) - and all for only 5 pence.  With issue #5, the full-colour pages increased to 8 per issue, which lasted until #19, with only 4 in #20 from then on.

Over the course of the first year, the spot-colour decreased as the use of Zipatone became more prevalent, until, eventually, the interiors of Marvel's U.K. weeklies became distinctly grey.  Issue #42 was the last one to feature green spot-hues, and when the comic was awarded a glossy cover with number 67, the contents became little more than a muddy mess.  This wasn't confined to just MWOM, but was also a blight on SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY and The AVENGERS.  (Although, truth to tell, as the first British weekly Marvel comic to sport a glossy cover from issue #1, The Avengers had always been cursed with that affliction.)

SMCW, launched in February '73, only ever had 4 full-colour pages, the remainder featuring red and orange spot-colour - and Zipatone - until issue #23, which was the very last one to feature the crimson and amber hues.  With number 24, the comic became all-grey (apart from the full-colour matte paper covers), but although the tones were a bit overwhelming, the art, for the most part, was still discernible.  However, with issue #48, everything changed - and all for the worse. The comic was also given a glossy cover and, overnight, became one monumental murky morass of dark grey and pitch-black blotches.  This deplorable situation lasted for months, and I'm amazed it was allowed to continue for as long as it did.

Theoretically, it shouldn't have been a problem.  After all, as far as I can ascertain, the tones were applied to the pages by the same team responsible for Marvel's black and white U.S. magazines - and they turned out fine.  It seems obvious, therefore, that the problem was a direct result of the cheap printing process utilised by the British printers responsible for producing Marvel's U.K. weekly output.  For far too long a period, British Marvels were an unattractive and unappealing alternative to the much more popular, cleanly printed (by comparison) IPC and D.C. THOMSON periodicals with which they had to share newsagents' shelves.  It was surely only the unswerving loyalty of devoted Marvel fans that enabled 'The House of Ideas' to turn any kind of profit.  (Here's an idea - get your printing sorted out, you thickos!)

Perhaps you think I exaggerate?  Take a look at the pages illustrating this post (especially the second Spider-Man one) and you'll see how bad it really was.  In fact, it wasn't just the tones that were awful - so was the reproduction.  Look at the Spidey splash-page - his webbing is practically invisible.  Thankfully, things eventually improved.

******

BEST LAID PLANS DEPT: When I first posted this, I thought I was being original. However, I've just been browsing on STEVE DOES COMICS blog and noticed that ol' Stevie-boy had already touched on this subject (and this very comic) some time ago.  What's more, I'd even left a comment on it, yet I had absolutely no recollection of previously reading Steve's post when I came to write my own.  Spooky, eh?  Has such a thing ever happened to you?  

YIPPEEE! PART FIVE Of The MISSING LINK...

Copyright REBELLION

When I was a much younger kid than I am now, people (usually teachers) often told me that I had a 'great' imagination.  Thing is, it wasn't intended as a compliment, and carried with it the strong suggestion that I was tethered to reality by only the most gossamer and fastly-fraying thread.  Huh!  What do teachers know?  (I should've called down my alien allies from the planet XRILLFON to sort them out, but they were busy.)

It seems to me, looking at the opening panel of the above artwork, that GEORGE LAZENBY as JAMES BOND is looking out at us from the left-hand side of the page.  And isn't that the Saintly ROGER MOORE as SIMON TEMPLAR assisting a woman out of the car on the right?  Or am I just imagining it?  What's that?  You don't think it's meant to be them?  All I can say then, is that it's a much more interesting place in my world than it seems to be in yours.

And here's me being generous to you by presenting the next episode of The MISSING LINK, as drawn by LUIS BERMEJO, for your reading pleasure.  It wouldn't have hurt you to agree with me, now, would it?   Pah!  (Don't panic - it's only mock-indignation for comic effect.  You're allowed to disagree with me if you want to.)

Interestingly, I remember sitting in the 2000 A.D. offices one day in the mid-'80s and looking through the ODHAMS PRESS bound file copies of the first 50 issues of FANTASTIC (whence comes the saga of The Missing Link).  When my eyes fell upon the pages, above, I made the same observation about the first panel to ol' THARGY's team of droids.  (I also speculated on whether Bermejo used publicity photos from Bond movie ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, as I felt that the girl in the pic faintly resembled DIANNA RIGG.)

Let me see now, that would have included STEVE MacMANUS, SIMON GELLER, ROBIN SMITH and art assistant PAUL AILEY.  (Paul had worked on the old POWER COMICS, which is why he had these two red-bound volumes in the bookshelf behind his desk.)  If I remember correctly, Robin Smith agreed that there was a similarity and also thought it possible that the artist had used photographic reference.

What do the rest of you think?  

IS HE MAN OR MONSTER? OR... IS HE BOTH? (HE'S BOTH, ACTUALLY!)

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Continuing our occasional series of DEAN WHITE's painted extravaganzas for the softcover editions of MARVEL MASTERWORKS, here's Dean's version of JACK KIRBY's illustration for The INCREDIBLE HULK #1. I happen to think that Dean's renditions of these classic covers are pretty durn hot, but, surprisingly there hasn't been much (if any, in fact) comment, either for or against them, on the previous entries in the series.  Don't be shy - let everyone know what you think of these powerhouse paintings NOW! 

MASKS AND MEMORIES - TO BOLDLY GO...

Copyright relevant owner

Memory is a funny thing, don't you think?  I don't mean 'funny ha-ha', but 'funny peculiar'.  I consider myself to have a fairly good memory (in the main), but am sometimes astounded when reminded of things I hadn't even realized I'd seemingly forgotten.  For example, take a look at the above ad for these half-dozen STAR TREK masks.  Had I merely been asked if I remembered them on the back of KELLOGG'S CORN FLAKES boxes back in 1971, I'd probably have thought they sounded familiar, but not been 100% sure whether I actually (if vaguely) remembered them or only imagined I did.

However, when I recently laid eyes on this ad on the back of one of my VALIANT & SMASH! comics, I recalled them instantly.  I definitely had the MR. SPOCK one, and maybe even one or two others.  Thing is, I hadn't thought about them in forty-one years and would probably never have done so if not for seeing the ad again.  Isn't it strange how it sometimes requires a visual reminder of something for us to realize we'd 'forgotten' it?

Who knows what memories lurk in the minds of men?  (H'mm, that's a good line - someone should have used it for something.)

SHRIEK! PART FOUR Of The MIGHTY MISSING LINK...

Copyright REBELLION

Here we go again, as Britain's answer to The HULK goes on the rampage in the very heart of swinging '60s London.  Marvel at the mountainous might of the livid LINK as he shows his magnificent mastery of the English language; gasp in gigantic gratitude as he demonstrates just how tight trousers should be worn; stand still and be startled by his animal magnetism and his uncanny ability to make women swoon; dribble in disbelief at the amount of total tripe I can write in a single paragraph.  Whatever you do though, don't forget to notice the amazing artwork of LUIS BERMEJO - it really is something to shout about!

A VALIANT ATTEMPT AT A SMASHING COMBINATION...

Copyright relevant owner

Three weeks after the amalgamation of LION and THUNDER (as seen here), VALIANT and SMASH! succumbed to the same fate.  It's interesting to note how much more attractive and dynamic the cover to the first combined issue of Valiant & Smash! is compared to that of Lion & Thunder. Frankly, the editor who accepted the cover lettering for L&T was asleep at the wheel; he'd have been far better following the example of the editor of V&S, who clearly had a much sharper eye for recognising what makes a striking cover banner.

Take a look at the banner-blurbs over the mastheads (above) of the first two issues of L&T; poorly executed, inconsistently spaced - and completely unexciting.  Now look at the one on the V&S cover at the top of this post; neat, zippy, punchy, colourful - all the things that a cover banner should be.

Well, now that I've vented about poor display lettering, let's take a look at the first issue itself.  Unlike L&T, V&S remained predominantly Valiant, with nine strips consisting of a whopping twenty pages, whereas Smash! was represented by only four strips totalling nine pages. Valiant stories included CAPTAIN HURRICANE, The CROWS, The NUTTS, BANGER & MASHER, RAVEN On The WING, KELLY'S EYE, The WILD WONDERS, The GHOSTLY GUARDIAN, and 'heavyweight chump' BILLY BUNTER. Representing Smash! were JANUS STARK, The SWOTS & The BLOTS, SIMON TEST, and HIS SPORTING LORDSHIP.

So why were these two comics amalgamated?  Declining sales of at least one of them is surely a given, but what had led to such a situation? A few months earlier, industrial action by printers had resulted in the suspension of various titles for around twelve weeks.  When publication eventually resumed, many readers had been lost along the way.  This resulted in some titles being amalgamated in an attempt to combine the circulation of two comics into one.

Anyway, that's more than enough waffle from me for one post.  Here's a few select pages from forty-one and a half years ago to hopefully refresh fond memories from yesteryear.  Enjoy.

Remember to click on images to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.

ONE FOR THE 'LOG' BOOK, PERHAPS...?

Looking back and trying to place events in their proper time frame years after the fact can sometimes be a difficult task.  When we're able to associate a particular incident with a specific, cover-dated periodical (for example), the job becomes a lot easier; however, without such an aid, accurate attribution of when things occurred can seldom be an exact science.  Unless one has a meticulously recorded diary - and all too few of us do.

The event I am about to share is insignificant in the great scheme of things; as is so much of what we regard as important to ourselves, and which we often imagine, in our vanity, to have far-reaching implications of immense profundity beyond our own finite sphere of influence and existence.  Don't we all consider ourselves, subconsciously (or unconsciously even), to be the centre around which the entire universe revolves?  Of course we do.  And it's the occasions when we're reminded that such is not the case which often cause the biggest frustrations in life.

The following recollection is one of immense triviality.  (If such a stark contradiction in terms can be permitted.)  It is a tale of no consequence, banal, mundane, uninteresting - to anyone but myself, that is.  I offer it in the hope that you may be able to relate to it, inasmuch as it may remind you of a similar circumstance in your own life, and that you may take comfort from the fact that you are not so removed from the common condition of humankind as you may sometimes think (or fear).

******

When I was a boy, my parents had a porcelain ornament which I took note of almost as soon as the power of sequential thought and memory first dawned within me.  It was a little log, on which pink and yellow petals, underscored with green leaves, were arranged in a splendored-display along the glazed brown bark which gave home to them.  I was probably only about 3 years old when it first introduced itself into my consciousness.

The seasons passed with regular inevitability, so let's now jump to either 1970 or '71, when I was in my first year at secondary school and aged about 11 or 12.  I was also two houses removed from the one in which this particular ornament had first come to my attention.  Even at that young age, it represented a link to my cherished past which I was reluctant - nay, unable to relinquish.  I lived in and for the past; I 'looked back' to such an extent that I should have turned into a pillar of salt long before ever reaching the age I then was.

One night, by prior arrangement, two classmates (who'd invited me to a youth club in the school across the road from the one we attended) called in for me.  I'd previously been a member of the Boys' Brigade in this school some years before, and was looking forward to reacquainting myself with its interiors.  The two lads were STUART MacDONALD and AIDEN DICK (wonder if he had a brother called 'Tiny'), and when they rang the front doorbell, in my haste to put on my jacket, a flapping sleeve knocked the small ornament from its place atop the wooden fire-surround, whereupon it smashed to pieces on the tiled surface below.

I was dismayed and my parents were understandably annoyed, but with the callousness of youth, I suppressed my guilt (a temporary condition) and made my way with my two companions to our destination.  As it turned out, I didn't stay long at the club; a combination of melancholy at unwittingly destroying the glazed log, dissatisfaction with the club itself, and anger at finding that the dastardly-duo had only invited me along in order to try and swindle me out of my entrance fee.  (An attempt that was doomed to failure.  They would have needed the A-TEAM to accomplish that - and they weren't around back then.)

I never forgot that ornament.  The years passed and I grew to adulthood, but, periodically, I would recall that night and cringe with shame at my part in the little log's destruction.  If ever I was at a Jumble Sale or Christmas Fayre, I would keep an eye out for one to replace it - but I was never successful in my aspiration.  It must have been about 32 or 33 years later that I saw its double in a charity shop, and - despite the unrealistic price that such establishments seem to place on much of their stock these days - I readily handed over my cash.

Well, I've had that replacement for around 9 years now.  I look at it every so often and my guilt at the murder of its twin is assuaged somewhat - though never completely.  It's strange to think that most of my life has been lived in its absence, because now that its doppelganger graces the same shelf-space the original would have occupied had it survived, it's almost as if history has been magically rewritten to include it in my memories of the time when it wasn't around. 

Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), it's a good feeling to be reunited with a familiar object from childhood and I derive a mixture of comfort, pleasure, and satisfaction from its presence. It's as if I've redeemed myself (however slightly) for some heinous sin, the shame of which has haunted me for most of my life and from which I thought I'd never be free.

Is there a moral to this story?  Or even a point to it, as some of the more critical amongst you may be wondering.  I'm sure there is, even if it's as difficult to articulate as providing precise dates for the foregoing events is elusive.  However, my work is done.  I've given you the clay; 'tis now your task to reflect, to ponder - then fashion it into whichever shape you think may serve you best.   

THE THING VERSUS THE HULK - FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Here's yet another terrific painting by DEAN WHITE over the JACK KIRBY and DICK AYERS classic cover to FANTASTIC FOUR #12.  I'd love to see a series of specials featuring such painted delights devoted to various MARVEL characters, each one including the first thirty or so covers of each title.  Better yet, a regular run of reprints with high quality recolouring of the kind seen in the six-part TALES Of ASGARD series published a couple or so years back, with painted covers like the one above, based on the originals.

Surely there must be someone else out there who'd like that too?

AN AMAZING SIGHT ON PLANET KRALKA...

I recently visited Planet KRALKA on a whistle-stop inter-galactic tour, where I spied the most amazing sight.  Believe it or not, there was the original incarnation of The DOCTOR, enjoying a quiet snifter of invigorating Kralkan air, in the company of a first-generation DALEK.  (They were obviously visiting from the 1960s as the Doctor's current manifestation is a foppish, public schoolboy twit with a 'jolly hockey sticks' accent and in desperate need of a good ol' Glasgow kicking.)  What's more astounding, however, was the fact that Doctor and Dalek appeared to be the best of pals.

Huh!  Just goes to show you can't believe everything you see on the telly.  They'll be telling us that they're only actors next.  (What do you mean, there's too much vinegar on my chips?)

COMIC COVERS 'SNAP'! - PART ELEVEN...

Images copyright DC COMICS

I love the colours on the cover of DETECTIVE COMICS #359, the mag which introduced us to BARBARA GORDON's (new) BATGIRL.  The shop from which I originally bought it in the late 1960s (or possibly very early '70s) still exists (CORSON'S), and I have a number of comics in my collection that I first bought from its premises.  Although the shop survives, unfortunately it no longer sells any American comicbooks (and hasn't for a good many years now), but that's true of most, if not all, U.K. newsagents nowadays.  A vanished era indeed.

The cover clearly made an impact not just on my young mind, but others, too, must have been impressed by it, as witnessed by the two relatively recent examples below.  In this case, nothing quite beats the original though.  You disagree?  Then tell us all why in the comments section.

Yvonne Craig (Batgirl) reads about her comic debut

WHEN LEO & SAM GOT HITCHED...

Copyright relevant owner

Looking at the above cover, it's difficult for me to believe that it's over 41-and-a-half years old, and that I was a secondary school pupil when I bought it.  It somehow seems to slot in more with my memories of primary school than my teenage years, though I'm not sure why.  Maybe it's simply because it's typical of the kind of comic I read as a primary school pupil and is therefore a more comfortable fit with that particular period of my life.  (Whatever.)

The above comic was the first 'great' combined issue of LION & THUNDER, and as I had been an avid reader of all 22 issues of Thunder in its solo incarnation, it was only natural that I would continue my association with it in its 'double-act' form.  Looking at the comic now, it seems a tad peculiar just how predominantly 'Thunder' it is, with the Lion contingent consisting of only 4 strips totalling 9 pages.  Thunder, on the other hand, is represented by 7 strips, totalling 19 pages in all.  More a case of 'Thunder & Lion' than the other way around.

On the Lion side, we had CARSON'S CUBS, ZIP NOLAN, The SPELLBINDER, and MOWSER - with the Thunder team of BLACK MAX, FURY'S FAMILY, PHIL The FLUTER, The JET-SKATERS, STEEL COMMANDO, ADAM ETERNO, and The JIG-SAW JOURNEY.  (Also, Lion's LEO, and Thunder's SAM - formerly BIFF from WHAM! - each make a brief headshot appearance, offering £1 for jokes and letters, and inviting readers to "SEND 'EM IN!")

The preponderance of Thunder strips strikes me as curious, because when two weeklies merged (due to declining sales of one of them), the subsumed title was traditionally the junior partner in the page stakes.  It makes me wonder if Lion and Thunder were merged because the former was in trouble, rather than the latter.  If so, Lion, as the much older title by about 20 years, was obviously accorded top-billing, even though not much of its content remained.

However, this is mostly speculation on my part and there's no real evidence to suggest otherwise in this case.  It just seems odd that Thunder, presumably being the comic in decline (indicating that readers hadn't taken to it), would be so prominently represented in its new home.  Of course, perhaps the publishers were simply using up an inventory of already completed strips, for, within a few short weeks, the number of Thunder characters diminished as the stories reached their conclusion and were replaced by old and new features.

Regardless, Lion & Thunder managed to hold out for another three years, before becoming VALIANT & LION in May of 1974.  (A case of "what goes around, comes around" it seems.)  Enjoy the selection of pages from the first combined issue and relive your own memories of the time.  (If you have any.)  As always, feel free to share any thoughts in the comments section.