PART TWO Of KALAK The DWARF - A CURSITOR DOOM ADVENTURE...

Copyright relevant owner

And now it's time to once again wilfully wallow in pure nostalgia as we revisit one of the more fondly-remembered comic strips of yesteryear, in the days when the U.K. still had what could be realistically described as a thriving comics industry.  Apparently, SCOTT GOODALL authored most of the CURSITOR DOOM tales in SMASH!, though KEN MENNELL and CHRIS LOWDER also wrote some stories on occasion.  Unfortunately, I'm unable at this time to determine exactly who penned which adventures, but I think it's fairly safe to assume that Scott, who created the character, wrote this episode as it was only the second in the series and it's likely that he would have written the tale that kicked off the feature back in 1969.

As I mentioned in Part One, Cursitor appeared in a full-colour monthly magazine called SPELLBINDERS back around the mid-'80s, although he was renamed AMADEUS WOLF for this QUALITY COMICS outing.  However, he had previously popped up in the 1974 BUSTER BOOK Of SPOOKY STORIES under the equally eerie appellation SEPTIMUS DROOD, this time sporting a beard and moustache, while his loyal assistant - ANGUS McCRAGGAN - was renamed CURTIS BRONSON, having had his ginger locks 'dyed' black and having 'grown' a moustache.  (For the Spellbinders issues, Angus/Curtis had been rechristened JIMMY BRANNIGAN.)  In both publications, the stories were reprints from the weekly Smash!

ERIC BRADBURY was the regular artist, though GEOFF CAMPION illustrated several episodes as well, I believe.  (I'll know precisely which ones when I eventually get around to digging them out for scanning.)  In the meantime, enjoy the above strip - and be sure to join us in Part Three for another thrilling episode in the continuing case of KALAK The DWARF!

SUPERCAR ADVENTURE FROM TV COMIC ANNUAL 1965 - PART ONE...

Characters copyright relevant and respective owners

I'm pleased to be able to present all you 'Criv-ites' with the delights of some of the contents from the 1965 TV COMIC ANNUAL.  So, first up is a full-colour SUPERCAR adventure, starring MIKE MERCURY and DOCTOR BEAKER.  Is it just me, or is there anybody else out there who can't hear the word 'Supercar' without the stirring theme to the TV show running through their heads?  (Anybody over 40 I mean.)

Don't miss Part Two for another tale of the 'Marvel of the Age'! 

FER F-F-F-FLIP'S SAKE - IT'S F-F-F-FRANKIE STEIN...

 

Copyright REBELLION

 

In answer to thousands of requests (okay, would you believe one or two?), here's another random couple of anarchic KEN REID FRANKIE STEIN strips from WHAM! #s 19 & 23, published back in the faraway days of 1964.  When I look at Ken's artwork, as well as being wonderfully drawn, it's also just funny to behold - humour springs from every panel.  Unlike some of the artwork in a desperately and despairingly doomed comic which died on its 75th birthday last year, it's a masterclass in how to do comics right.  Would-be cartoonists take note!  

VENUS In BLUE SCREAMS! FIREBALL XL5 And The BATMEN From SPACE - PART THREE...

Images copyright relevant owner

In case you thought I'd forgotten, here's part three of the FIREBALL XL5 adventure (from TV CENTURY 21 #3, cover-dated February 6th 2065) wherein COLONEL STEVE ZODIAC and his crew encounter the mysterious BATMEN from outer space.  If you haven't yet read the previous instalments, this tale has never been reprinted (update: until 2023 that is) in comics, magazines or books since it was first published a hundred years ago in the future (if you know what I mean), so you're being treated to a rare and wonderful delight.  GRAHAM COTON is the artist, but he would be replaced by MIKE NOBLE in issue #6 because editor ALAN FENNELL wasn't too impressed with Graham's take on the strip.  Personally, I quite like it, but it has to be admitted that Mike Noble was the Fireball artist.

Look out for Part Four soon.

ESCAPOLOGY - WITHOUT A MOTHER BOX...

Copyright REBELLION

Time now for another astounding adventure with the amazing JANUS STARK, from the pulsating pages of the super second issue of the revamped SMASH! as published in 1969.  This time round drawn by the titanic TOM KERR, the art is no less atmospheric and effective than that of SOLANO LOPEZ, who had drawn the initial instalment - and most of the subsequent ones.  Tom drew just about everything in his 20-plus years comics career, including CHARLIE PEACE in BUSTER and the first episode of ADAM ETERNO in THUNDER, but is arguably best known (at least by me) for a series of pages for CLARK'S COMMANDOS, which advertised the famous footwear in many a comic weekly.  No doubt others will have different strips with which they associate him.

So - come!  The fogs of Victorian London shift and swirl, beckoning us to attend the dramas of an earlier, grittier, yet somehow more romantic age.  We must obey the imperial summons - for it will not be denied. 

SEVEN SECRET ORIGINS... (Updated)

Copyright DC COMICS

From 1973-'74, DC COMICS (then still officially known as NATIONAL PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS) released a 7-issue series following on from their two 1960s GIANT-SIZE Specials of the same title - SECRET ORIGINS.  Starting with a reprint of SUPERMAN's one-page introduction from ACTION COMICS #1 (not seen since 1938), The FLASH from SHOWCASE #4, and BATMAN from DETECTIVE COMICS #33, the short-lived run featured the origins of several of DC's top-tier heroes and vile villains.

It's a nice little set to have in one's collection, so just in case you're interested in tracking it down, here are the covers to help you identify them.  Don't say I ain't good to you.   

And, for completists, below are the two Specials that started it all.  The first is from 1961, the second from 1965.  Maybe I should change the title of this post to Nine Secret Origins?  Or should that be 29, if I count the individual tales?

ANOTHER FABULOUS FIREBALL XL5 ADVENTURE From TV COMIC ANNUAL 1964...

Images copyright relevant owner

I now present the second FIREBALL XL5 story from the TV COMIC Annual for 1964.  Artist NEVILLE MAIN does a good job in capturing the look of the TV show, considering that the tale was aimed at a younger readership than the MIKE NOBLE strips in TV CENTURY 21.  The editor of TV21 for its first three years was ALAN FENNELL, who also wrote scripts for various GERRY ANDERSON TV shows.  Having been involved with TV Comic prior to TV21, it's not altogether unlikely that he may have written the above story, though obviously I can't say whether he did or not with any certainty.

So, enjoy the adventures of the XL5 crew and remember to watch for more in upcoming posts.

DC'S OLD BLACK MAGIC CREEPY COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright DC COMICS

Back in the early to mid-'70s, DC COMICS published a 9 issue run of a comic called BLACK MAGIC, which reprinted strips from the 1950s PRIZE COMICS mag of the same name.  Some of the art was revised in places to look less dated (and also to meet then-current Comics Code requirements) and, overall, the reproduction wasn't quite as good as it could (and should) have been.  However, it was a noble attempt to present older tales to a then-modern readership, so here are the covers to all 9 issues of this short-lived but interesting revival of a SIMON & KIRBY classic.

Looking at these covers takes me right back in time.  I still remember the shop from which I bought the first issue, though it's so long since I've been there that I'm unsure whether it still exists or not.  I suspect the latter.  Also, I don't think I had every issue at the time, just the first three or four perhaps.  However, I've got 'em all now, even if it did take me 40 years to own the complete set.  Did you buy this mag back in the day, and if so, what are your memories of it?  

(Interestingly, the fourth issue featured a version of a hitherto unused cover originally intended for the first issue of the title's initial 1950s run.)

The RETURN Of The KILLER ROBOT - PART FIVE Of An AMAZING JOHNNY FUTURE ADVENTURE...

Copyright REBELLION

  

It's time once again to turn back the clock to the 1960s, when comics still topped the list of what any self respecting boy would spend his pocket-money on in those pre-decimal days of 'free love' and black and white TV.  In fact, here's an interesting experiment for all those who lived through the '60s and are approximately the same age as me.  Cast your mind back to watching BATMAN as a kid and I bet'cha you think you saw it in colour.  Am I right?  My parents didn't get a colour telly until the early or mid-'70s, yet so familiar am I with those colour episodes from later repeats, that when I think back to 1966, my memories of watching the programme seem to be in vivid TECHNICOLOUR!

 

Talking of Batman (which we were), has anyone else noticed how similar JOHNNY FUTURE's costume and cape are to those of the DAYLIGHT (as he was on telly) DETECTIVE ?  It's almost as if artist LUIS BERMEJO was using ADAM WEST's outfit as a template for JOHN FOSTER's own little superhero number.

 

Anyway, that's more than enough obligatory preamble from me.  Time to turn you loose on the pretty pictures.  Go to it, Tiger!

 

("Tiger" ?  I can't believe I just typed that.)

The ASTOUNDING ORIGIN Of JANUS STARK...

Copyright REBELLION

Long after the weekly SMASH! had shuffled off this mortal coil, JANUS STARK continued to thrill and amaze readers in the pages of VALIANT & SMASH!, as well as a few more annuals of his original comic's title.  He was extremely popular abroad, and zee Frenchies had a licence to produce their own adventures of the character - some of which were re-lettered into English and published over here in the mid-'80s.

However, here is how he first began, way back in March 1969.  As far as I know, this strip has only been reprinted once before - in a book called ALBION ORIGINS back in 2007.  The pages which follow are scanned from my own first issue of the 'new' Smash!, and are presented here for your very own delight and delectation.  (Which are essentially the same thing, but you know how I love alliteration.)

The awesome art is by the prolific SOLANO LOPEZ.